Betty Vicknair Fiorina...

Several days ago, I did a post called "Pour Ma Famille" (for my family)... honoring my heritage and my family members who have passed on... there is a reason for everything I believe... yesterday, my daddy's sister, Betty Vicknair Fiorina, my aunt Betty, passed away at age ninety... my aunt Betty was such a beautiful, inspiring lady in my life... Betty lived her entire life in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where my daddy was raised as well. Betty's number one priority in life was her family, as is mine... also her priority were the literally thousands of lost, stray and homeless animals she rescued throughout her lifetime, many of whom came to Utah to live with my family members. I can just picture the reunion she is having right now, not with just our family but with her little "saves" in Heaven as well, their little tails wagging in excitement seeing her once again... Betty lived her life to the fullest, just like her brother, my daddy... she had the same mischievous charm about her too... always full of fun and laughter... every summer growing up was spent staying at her home on Don Diego in Santa Fe, right next door to my grandma's house...I will always remember how my aunt Betty always had pie for dinner, it made her happy and she believed you should always do things that make you happy!...So do I!... Tonight I will eat a big piece of pie for my dear aunt. My aunt Betty accomplished so many things in her life and I am so very proud of her. Betty was Secretary of State of New Mexico in the late 50's, early 60's and 70's, and Acting Governor of the State during much of that time... she was the only person ever to serve three terms as Secretary of State of New Mexico... and at a time when women prominent in politics was not a common thing. In 2007, the State Printing Building in Santa Fe was named the Betty Fiorina State Printing Building in her honor. But to me, she was my aunt Betty, a beautiful, giving, loving soul who I always looked up to. Betty so loved her "Land of Enchantment"... today as I was going through some precious papers of mine, I came across this beautiful Hopi Prayer I saved many years ago... aunt Betty... this is for you...

Hopi Prayer

Do not stand at my grave and weep,I am not there, I do not sleep.I am a thousand winds that blow,I am the diamond glints on snow.I am the sunlight on the ripened grain,I am the gentle Autumn's rain.When you awaken in the morning hush,I am the swift, uplifting rush,of quiet birds in circled flight,I am the soft stars that shine at night.Do not stand at my grave and cry,I am not there, I did not die.

I love you aunt Betty and like the Hopi prayer says, I know you will always be close by...

Solitude in the early morning hours...

I am an early riser... usually waking up between 0430~500 in the morning... while the rest of the world is undoubtedly still fast asleep, I am enjoying a hot cup of coffee in one of my favorite vintage cups and savoring my quiet time alone...

I get cozy and comfy on our couch in our living room, coffee close at hand, and let my thoughts drift away... to wherever they may take me... this is my own time, the minutes belong to me right now and no one else... I cherish this serene morning ritual known as solitude... I believe we all need this time to ourselves, to sort our thoughts, plan our day, let daydreams and fantasies carry us away... for just a little while... if a negative thought interrupts my happy ones, I quickly replace it with something sweet... I am a creature of habit, and I like it that way... there are sooo many things in life that I love and am passionate about... I don't want to sleep too long and miss all of the beauty the day has to offer...

"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that's where I renew my springs that never dry up"... Pearl S. Buck... Bisous...

Pour Ma Famille...

Looking around these days, you will find many beautiful stories, shops and photos of all things French... I am French, on my daddy's side of the family, yet I seldom post about these things... I thought today I would honor my French ancestors and do a post about some of the things I love that are French... first and foremost of course would be my family... I have traced my French heritage back to the early 1600's and it fascinates me!... I am a strong believer that my ancestors are always watching over me... and always close by...

In the photo above, you will see my great~grandfather's gold pocketwatch, my grandmother had put on a little gold stand when he passed away and I inherited it... the old box camera belonged to my grandfather, then my daddy, then me... the book is my French Bible dated 1904, and sitting on top of it are my Chevalier opera glasses from Paris circa 1900... these tresors are priceless to me...

Le monsieur on the left in the photo above is my great~uncle Pierre Seraphin Vicknair and Le monsieur on the right is his brother, my grandfather, Jules Arthur Vicknair, Sr... the epitome of French gentlemen, non? I do think they look quite debonair!... my daddy's name was (is,... I have said before I still use the present tense for my family who have passed on... they are always close by my side, that has not changed... ) Jules Arthur Vicknair Jr. and I was named after him and my grandfather, with my middle name "Marie" after all of my French grandmothers, great~grandmothers... way back... my niece Elizabeth shares my middle name Marie as well... carrying on our family tradition... my mama spoke fluent French, even though her side of the family was only a small portion French... I wish I was more fluent in the beautiful French language... it is so soft and romantic... I want to take a class one day... as little girls, my mama would take my sister and me into the Paris Department Store in Salt Lake City... the Paris is now closed (so sad, malls have taken over what once was a beautiful downtown Salt Lake City)... my mama was a model for the Paris when she worked there before she met my daddy... the store had the most beautiful clothes and the store itself was simply stunning... mama would take us to the candy counter in the store and buy us all Nonpareils... (which means unequalled in French)... if you have never tasted Nonpareils, you must try them... a chocolate lovers dream!... some of my ancestors were from Normandie, France and most of them were from Soual, Tarn France... the photo below is of Soual...Soual is located in the south of France in the countryside (I want to visit there one day... even more than Paris!)... and see where my family lived...

In the meantime, I have several favorite shops I love to visit who carry beautiful French tresors. The "Petite Marie" bottle is from My Petite Maison...my sweet friend Tracie's shop... I custom ordered it from Tracie... each one she makes is one of a kind... mine has sand from Nice, France in the bottom of it... the gorgeous Parfum tin behind it I purchased at another dear friend's shop, Janet at Shabbyfufu... I also purchased a beautiful vintage French pincushion from Janet, which I am saving to show in a future post... Both of these sweet ladies travel to France and bring back the most wonderful tresors for their shops... and are so knowledgeable about everything French...

In true French style, I love my cafe au lait... I purchased this beautiful cafe au lait bowl from another friend, sweet Lidy at French Garden House... Lidy travels to France often as well and offers so many lovely French items too... my cafe au lait bowl is from 1900... and yes, I do use it!...

My birthday is in the month of May and my birthflower is one of my very favorite flowers as well... Lily of the Valley, or "Muguet" in French... I plan on planting even more of these in my garden this Spring...

So, this post was written full of love for my family... even though many have passed on, not a day goes by that I do not think of them all, and miss them so very much... and so to you, my dear family... Je t'aime mon amours... Bisous...

You are the sunshine of my life...

I am blessed with the two most beautiful nieces in the world... they bring me sooo much happiness and joy... Filly and Liz made me this little card over twenty years ago... (seems like just yesterday...they are now 27 and 25 respectively)... every Spring since they gave it to me, it is displayed on my fridge, just like it was when two adorable little girls lovingly created it for their Aunt Juju so many years ago...


And just like it filled my heart with happiness and joy back then... it does today... I love you my two precious girls!... Juju ... xoxo...

"Sunshine, lollipops, and.. rainbows...

everything that's wonderful, is what I feel when, we're together"... don't you just love that old Lesley Gore song... it always makes me happy... I do believe that's what this pretty little Robin was singing this morning when I looked out my front window and saw her...



She was loving the sunshine today, and her "lollipops" were the berries on our tree out front... look how cute she looks with the one she just plucked from the tree in her mouth... Yum!.. Did you know there will ALWAYS be something white in a Robin's nest? My great~grandmother told me that when I was a little girl, and through the years I have always found it to be true... sometimes it is a piece of white string, sometimes a piece of white paper towel... a white feather sticking out... next time you see a Robin's nest... look for something white... it will be there... just like my great~grandmother said...


Her "rainbow" was just out my back window... the little neon yellow sign for pedestrians by the Nature trail we take each morning had the gorgeous sunlight shining right on it, and made this rainbow effect... I am sure there is a pot of gold waiting for me at the end of the trail...

Yesterday, I got a new "Spring" haircut... my hair was soo long, she cut 8 inches off... what can I say... I must be from Texas... like my friend Vicki who lives in Texas says, "I love big hair, big earrings and bright red lipstick!" Me too!...(I had a photo of my new haircut here, but deleted it... I don't like pictures of myself so there is just a small one on my sidebar)...

I found myself humming this morning, must be the sunshine... here is a little Spring vignette I set up on my coffee table... not sure yet what I will put under the wire cloche...

I found this cutest little flower pot with a tiny birdnest inside and flowers on the outside yesterday at Roberts... I added the eggs inside and the birds on the outside... must have birdies and eggs at a nest...

I haven't started decorating for Easter yet... this bunny lives on top of one of my hutches year round... I just love how worn and well~loved she looks... I have had her for almost twenty years now and still love her to pieces!... soon, more of her bunny sisters will be coming out to join her...

It's so funny how much better things seem when the sun is shining... I started crocheting another muffler... even though Spring is almost here, we still get some nippy winds through March when we are walking, so I always wear a muffler... don't you just love the yummy pastel colors of the yarn!...

When I went outside, the sky above our foothills looked like little hearts in the clouds... (anyway, I thought they looked like hearts!)...

Oooh! ... teeny little shoots of my Daffodils coming up! I can hardly wait!...

Some of my Sweet Williams already all green... I love these beautiful flowers, and plant them for my daddy, as they were his very favorite... I plant special flowers for all of my loved ones who have passed on... it makes me happy... and I feel so close to them....

I love walking around my gardens and seeing what has changed from day to day... then I checked all of my birdhouses... I put fresh wood~shavings in the bottoms of each one of them... did you know that the birds actually "scout" out their Spring nesting sites during the winter months?... They do, and they also like to "clean house" so to speak, tossing out old "nests" and such (thus the wood shavings) before they begin making their own dream home... We have many birdhouses around our yard and gardens, and they are all "For Rent"!...

Back inside, I sat and finished sketching out my gardens... I love seeing the soil and bark once more, the snow is all gone and I am ready to plan my Spring planting... I have started my "wish list" in my garden journal for new plants to add this year...

I hope your day was full of "sunshine, lollipops and, rainbows, everything, that's wonderful, is what I feel when, we're together"... xoxo

My how blogging has changed things... you've come a long way, baby...

Time was when a woman's week was pretty well laid out for her... let's take a look at the days of the week... then... and now... Monday then... Wash Day... Now... Mosaic Monday...


Tuesday then... Ironing Day... Now... Teacup Tuesday...

Wednesday then... Sewing Day... Now ... White Wednesday...

Thursday then...Market Day... now Tablescape Thursday...

Friday then... Housecleaning Day... Now... Vintage Black Friday...

Saturday then... Baking Day... Now... Pink Saturday...

Sunday then... A Day of Rest... Now... Silver Sunday...

I still love these vintage hand~embroidered dishtowels with the days of the week... I have said before how I really do like doing household chores (yes, I know many of you think I am nuts!)... and I am a really organized person... I still grocery shop the same day each week, and still do laundry and housework the same day of the week... with plenty of time left for favorite hobbies and some blogging in between... I don't know how all you ladies keep up with all of the days of the week blog parties though! I did a few White Wednesdays and Vintage Christmas Mondays... now I just kind of do my own thing... Well, as you can see, today is Market Day, so I am off to the grocery store!... I hope you have a happy week... however you choose to spend it!... xoxo

Beautiful Bauer...

It all started over twenty~five years ago with this one green bowl... my love affair with Bauer... my sisters and I had gone to a wonderful flea~market at the old Sunnyside Armory in Salt Lake City... that many years ago, there were so many more fabulous treasures to find, at literally giveaway prices... I fell in love with this beautiful green Bauer bowl... I loved the soft green color of it and it reminded me so much of the bowls my grandma would carry around her little country kitchen with her, stirring up something wonderfully yummy in it with her old wooden handled spoon... I believe I paid either 50 cents or one dollar for it at the time...

My collection of Bauer bowls began to grow... remember that now famous line in the original Jaws movie when Brody saw the shark for the first time and said "We need a bigger boat"... well, Jack, we need a bigger house! Honestly though, our home is plenty big for the two of us, it's just that the two of us have alot of "stuff"!!! And we both keep bringing home more! One of Jack's friend's wife called to talk to Jack one night about ten years ago, as he was helping her with her computer over the phone... (Jack is so sweet, he helps everyone with everything!) Anyway, I answered the phone that night and talked to this sweet lady I had never met... she asked me what I did for hobbies, etc and I told her I collected antiques and vintage items and loved going to estate sales... when I told her I collected vintage mixing bowls, my favorite ones being Bauer, she said "well honey, I have a bunch of old Bauer bowls I was getting ready to give to the D.I."... the D.I. is a thrift store here in Utah... it smells just awful when you walk in (seriously!) and everything is quite dirty in it as they don't clean much up (except the clothes) before they put it out for sale... you can however unearth some real treasures beneath all of that grime if you are willing to dig... and I am! I put on my old gardening clothes when I go and dig in! Back to the story... she told me she would LOVE to give them to me! She said there were quite a few of them that had been her mothers (for the life of me, I can never understand why anyone would give away their mother's things, but some people aren't sentimental like I am I suppose)... she said she would send them out with her husband to give to Jack the next time they went to coffee. I could hardly wait!... She sent me NINE perfectly beautiful assorted colors of vintage Bauer bowls! Can you believe it! I offered to pay her and she said no (I did send her a gift card to Michaels)... Below is my collection, including the nine from this most generous lady...


All of my Bauer bowls are from the late 30's and 40's... I love the 40's, everything about them. To me that is such a romantic era, the clothes the ladies wore were so feminine and beautiful and I love the old movies and the Big Bands... I do believe I am most content in my little country kitchen, daydreaming about simpler times, a Bauer bowl in my arms, stirring up something wonderfully yummy, just like my grandma did... Besides my very first green Bauer bowl, my other favorite one is the large yellow one in the photo below... it is huge and the color is so pretty! My country kitchen is sunny yellow and red...

Leslie asked in my last post where I keep all of these vintage treasures... I do have a place for most everything, but one day would love an old Hoosier cabinet for my bowls... I also collect McCoy, California Pottery and Fiesta vintage mixing bowls as well as any others that catch my eye... every color in the rainbow... just looking at them all when I took them down to wash them the other day and photograph them makes me smile... (everything pictured in this post is Bauer)... I also collect old Roseville, Hull, Shawnee and Redwing art pottery to name a few... What do you collect that started out with "just this one" and quickly multiplied??? ... xoxo

P.S. Merci to all of you who have emailed me about my vintage kitchen collectibles I have been posting this past week... and yes, I have thought many times about opening my own antiques shop... but there is just one problem... I would be my own best customer! I can't bear to part with anything!... xoxo

Did I tell you about the time I was featured in Romantic Homes Magazine???...

So many of you lovely ladies have had your homes, your shops, your crafts featured in favorite magazines... well... I was featured several years ago in Romantic Homes magazine... honest, I was...well... sort of...

Among all of the treasures from the past that I collect, some of my very favorites are my pie~birds... the photo below shows my little collection in one of my hutches... some of these I purchased myself, some my sweet sister Jill purchased at antiques stores on trips to California for me... (merci Jill!)... the teeny little yellow one in the very front belonged to my mama... the yellow chicken at the back is not vintage... it was represented to be by a shop owner (who knew better) and I knew it was not old, but it was so darn cute, I brought it home anyway!... (I just did not pay the price a vintage one would have been!!!)... I adore these little pie~birds, and they always bring a smile to my face...

I'm sure most of you all know what a pie~bird was used for, but for those of you who do not, they were used to vent the steam in a pie so as to keep the filling (usually fruit) from spilling over and also to keep the crust from sagging in the middle... Imagine my surprise when I purchased Romantic Home's book "Vintage Vavoom" several years ago, and there on page 23...

was a picture and story about collecting vintage pie~birds, and I happen to own three of these treasures identical to the ones they featured!... (photo below of page 23)...

I was soo excited to see these!... I personally do not know anyone else who collects pie~birds, and was so happy they had shown these... I decided to photograph the three of mine that were like the ones they showed, and wrote a "letter to the editor" of Romantic Homes magazine... it is the one and only time I have ever written to a magazine, and Jack told me not to get my hopes up about it being published, as they were sure to receive thousands of letters each month... (I still had my hopes up!)... Then in November 2008, I bought the latest issue... (one of my all time favorite covers too!)...

I opened up the magazine and started to read it, when there I was!!! Well, not ME... but my little pie~birds in "letters to the editor"...

So, as the late Paul Harvey (who I adored!) would have said... "and now you know the rest of the story"... tee hee hee... P.S. Since I have kind of a kitchen~collectibles thing going on this week, I will post my Bauer bowl collection next and tell you about a very generous lady!... xoxo

Collecting Vintage Recipes...

If you have followed my blog at all, you know by now how much I treasure anything and everything from the past... I collect so many things I love... some of those things are vintage recipes... boxes, cards, recipe books, you name it... here are a few from my collection I wanted to share with you...

There is something so sweet and wonderful about vintage recipe cards and boxes... it's like stepping back in time to the simpler, gentler days I yearn for... I have many that were my mama's and many I have gathered here~and~there... I always wonder how the family can part with such irreplaceable family treasures... the pretty little bundles of recipe cards tied with pink fabric were purchased at my sweet friend Alice's shop, Painted White... she offers these adorable little estate sale finds she has bundled together in her shop and each one is different and unique... some are handwritten, some are typed, some have special notes handwritten on them (my favorite!)... I just love everything about these!...

Several summers ago I went to an estate sale at a neighbor's home on the street I grew up on and I blog about often... the sweet vintage mother had passed away and the family was selling so many things... they have a daughter a little older than me and we were friends growing up... she was selling her mama's old wooden recipe box full of recipes for $3.00... I tried to talk her into keeping them, as I felt she would be saddened later on if she sold it... she said they had to part with many things and she gave it to me... it is one of my most prized possessions... many of the recipes have the ladies names on them who wrote them, ladies that all lived in our old neighborhood and I remember so well...one recipe I found at the very back of the little box called out to me... it was a recipe for "How to Preserve a Husband"... it goes like this ..."Be careful in your selection. Do not choose too young and take only such varieties as have been reared in a good moral atmosphere. When once decided upon and selected, let that part remain forever settled and give your entire thought to preparing for domestic use. Some insist on keeping them in a pickle while others are constantly getting them in hot water. Even a poor variety may be made sweet and good by garnishing them with patience, well sweetened with smiles and flavored with kisses to taste. Then wrap well in a mantle of charity. Keep well seasoned with a steady fire of domestic tranquility and serve with peaches and whipped cream. Thus prepared they will keep for years." Too cute! They were married for over sixty five years...

Another of my very favorite recipe boxes is this yellow plastic one that was my mama's... it is filled with wonderful recipe cards that she sent away for many, many years ago from Betty Crocker... I use many of these recipes today... I will share some recipes in a future post so as not to make this one too long... I will also show some of my precious vintage cookbooks as well...

The pretty vintage flowered tablecloth was my mama's too... and yes, it has some holes in it, and gravy stains from our Sunday dinner's roast, but that makes me cherish it all the more... xoxo