Dragonfly’s Favorites: These Wooden Vases

The vase on the left was a gift from my parents. They picked it up while traveling  in New Zealand. It was originally a fence post…remnants of it’s former life are still visible. The drilled hole. Moss that’s still attached. I liked it and appreciated it.
  

It gave my dad an idea. This time it was a good idea!

He wondered if he could do something similar with wood from Granddaddy’s old barn. It might be a nice way to preserve a little bit of history. He contacted a wood crafter/artist and had them made. I believe that he had one made for each of Grandmother and Granddaddy’s grandchildren. They don’t have the same feel or look as the New Zealand piece, but they do carry our personal history. Our memories of visiting the farm, of the many hours spent playing in and around the barns. For some, the memory of working the farm along side Granddaddy. Of the cows and the farm equipment.

I treasure these memories and am grateful to have these lovely reminders.

Dragonfly’s Favorites: Burts Bees Repair Serum

I don’t know what this stuff is made for, and I don’t remember why I bought it originally. I think that it is for wrinkles…and I don’t have any of those…*cough*…but for me, it is too greasy to put on my face everyday, not to mention the fact that I have the worst facial care regimen in the world…which is none. I have no discipline.

I  was lucky in my teens, as I didn’t have too much trouble with acne. But once every so often I would get these deep pimples, the ones that hurt and you knew were coming before you could see them. They hurt, they were ugly, and were a bear to get rid of.

Newsflash…I still get them.

I have found that rubbing a little Burt’s Bees Repair Serum on a pimple will help it to go away faster. Oil…on a pimple…seems like the opposite of what I remember being told. I don’t remember why I tried it the first time, but I am glad I did. Those deep ones, if you catch them early sometimes never fully arrive…and this makes me very happy!

Burts Bees does make a Blemish Stick, with a variety of oils including Tea Tree Oil, but I have found that the Repair Serum works best for me. It also doesn’t reek of Tea Tree Oil, which is always a bonus!

Dragonfly’s Favorites: My "Antique" Desk

Truth is, I don’t know it’s story. My folks bought a furnished condo in Arizona a few years ago and this desk was a part of the package. When they sold the house, furnished again, they did save the desk for me and drove it to my home here in Colorado. Aren’t they sweet?

My dad is convinced that the desk is junk. It might just be. I don’t know anything about old furniture or how to tell “good” furniture from “bad”, like music, I like what I like.

Dragonfly’s Favorites: Pear Preserves

When I was young my grandmother would make pear preserves. I loved pear preserves, but since I lived in Minnesota, and she lived in Tennessee, I didn’t get many chances to eat them. She knew just how much I adored them and would bring me a jar when she came to Minnesota and she always made sure that she had some for when we visited Tennessee.

I don’t know what it was about pear preserves that I craved. The sweetness, the chunky slices of pears in the thick syrupy yum…Grandmother’s love that came with them. Pear preserves were one of the first things to disappear as she headed into the world of Alzheimers, and I missed them.

From time to time I would scan the jams and jellies in specialty stores looking for my favorite, but never found them. Until the other day, I was in my regular grocery store looking for lemon curd for a recipe, when there it was right in front of me….a jar of pear preserves!! I quickly grabbed a jar, as if it might disappear or be a stress induced mirage, and brought it home with me.

So very similar to my memories of Grandmother’s. I nearly cried. The jar is now almost empty, and completely devoid of any actual pear chunks.

Next time I might just have some on toast or biscuits rather than just indulging in random spoonfuls straight from the jar!

Dragonfly’s Favorites: A Memory and a Cookie Jar

My dad’s parents, Grandmother and Granddaddy, lived on a dairy farm. Over the years, they also raised crops which included cotton. Both my parents picked cotton while growing up in rural Tennessee. They also had a huge vegetable garden. In addition to the okra, tomatoes, green beans, peas and greens, Granddaddy would also plant lots of sweet corn. He always said that he planted extra corn, just for me.

This post is not about cotton picking or sweet corn, but cows. Over the years, Grandmother’s kitchen collected many cow related items…calendars, refrigerator magnets, towels, pictures. One day while browsing some antique shops I found this:

Isn’t it sweet? A cow cookie jar, with a familiar straw sun hat, and overalls. I just had to buy it. I thought I would give it to Grandmother for Christmas. It sat on her kitchen counter for years, and there would almost always be goodies inside. That is until the Alzheimer’s started winning.

It was well into her Alzheimer’s battle when she looked around her kitchen and said “I don’t like cows. I don’t know why everyone insisted on buying me cows!”

After she passed, the cookie jar came back to me. I don’t keep goodies in it, but every time I see it I hear Grandmother’s voice “I don’t like cows…” and smile.

Dragonfly’s Favorites: Tin Roof, Rusted!

Ok, so not a roof. In reality, I don’t know what it is…but it is rusted.
   

 

I was looking for something to hang on this wall. With little money to spend, I thought my choices were Target or Bed Bath and Beyond…I looked, what I found was both generic and expensive. It took me just a few minutes to realize what I already knew…that I should be looking at something used, something unique.
  

 

After coming to my senses, I immediately drove to the local antiques market/row and found this. Do you know what it is? What ever it is, I like it…and it fits me and my home

Dragonfly’s Favorites: Mayo on French Fries

pommes frites, originally uploaded by fleischking.

Yum. I don’t know when or where it started, and for a long time I thought that I was the only one. Trust me, I realize just how evil, and unhealthy it is, but darn it I love love love mayonnaise on my french fries.

People were always turning up their nose at my “habit”, so I was heartened when we visited Amsterdam several years ago and I learned that I was not alone. They call them Vlaamse Frites, and they are served in a paper cone with a choice of sauces…including mayo, peanut, curry, and gravy. We visited the fry stand twice during our visit…I tried the peanut the first day and then the mayo. They are some of the best fries that we have ever had. Starr stuck to ketchup.

Dragonfly’s Favorites: Starr’s Self Portrait

It was her senior year of high school, spring of 2007, and Starr was taking Advanced Photography. This was one of their first assignments, Sunny helped her. I like it because it is so different than any other picture of her, it is more of an opposite portrait.