In the kitchen, part 2 - the chickens

My introduction to Julian's extended family happened abruptly, without planning it and without time to think it over. Julian and I had really only been dating 'for real' for about two weeks when I asked him if he wanted to go back to Knoxville with me for the graduation of my college friends who were a year behind me. He sad yes and off we went. We got there and his parents emailed - his grandparents  (and aunts, and uncles, and neighbors) were in Knoxville for graduation, too! His cousin, Sara, was graduating from grad school and was having a house party so we stopped by. My first conversation with his grandmother went about like this:

Me: Hi, its nice to meet you!
Granny: Hi. (Put her hand on my knee and gripped, hard) Do you go to church?
Me: Yep! Was raised Presbyterian.
Granny: Ok! Do you want children?
Me: Yep! Four would be nice.
(What was I thinking? I knew she had four so it must be the correct answer. I was 23 then, too.)
Granny: Good! What do you collect?
Me: *panic* Collect? Oh, um. Chickens!
(What on earth? Why didn't you say something useful like... diamonds!)
Granny: That's nice.

Truth be told, it was the only thing I could think of and no, I had no collection of chickens. I also did not know that Granny collects collections: peacocks, rabbits, frogs, baskets, Christmas trees (yes, Christmas trees), etc. On the way home, we passed by a frontage road pottery shop - which in the south is code for a bunch of cheap house junk - and my sweet Julian said, "I suppose we should stop in a get you a chicken." If I were going to get stuck with a chicken collection, I would at least not be a liar anymore.  And so, my collection started with my dot chicken from Julian and now totals over 35 chicken themed articles, from salt and pepper shakers to clocks, to an apron holder.  They are, for the most part, a cheery lot, and my kitchen just wouldn't be the same without them.

PS. That green Aladdin lamp is from my father's side of the family. It was made in 1937 and was lovingly restored last night by Julian when we discovered that the vine had grown inside the gallery!

PPS. That box up there is a Mason Pearson Hairbrush box. I cleaned hotel rooms during the summers in college. One day I went in to clean a room after a guest had checked out and they left that box behind. Upon inspection, you can see that it has a $125 price tag on the bottom. Its a HAIR BRUSH, PEOPLE. I had a bit of a Scarlett moment and kept it as a reminder of my roots.

This is part two of my link up with Heather @ Beauty That Moves.

Wedding ring ... thing

It seems the quilting women of my family all have a niche, a kind of quilt that is "their thing." My grandmother loves a simple nine patch, my great aunt Mildred did hexie flower gardens and my great grandmother was known for her double wedding rings. I grew up playing I Spy on the one she made for my parents as a wedding gift.

This past spring, my grandmother showed up with her most notorious kind of gift - the you-can-have-this-if-you-promise-to-finish-it kind! So here I am. On a rainy Tuesday, I'm still in my pajamas and preparing the binding for what I've decided will be a wall hanging.

Three parts of it were pieced by my great grandmother and one piece added to complete the motif by my grandmother. The fabrics range from original feedsacks to 1980's chintzy prints. This has presented a challenge for picking binding fabric, so I did the only logical thing and put it to a vote on Facebook. So here we go with a scrap from none other than Julian's grandmother.

A three grandmother wall hanging wedding ring quilt thingy - how special!

{The Wild Larder} Heirloom Iris Part 2

In order for this post to make a little more sense, start by reading this post. It explains my sense of urgency for this little flower.

Now, I will start by saying thanks to River Cottage and the work of John Wright. Over the past year or so, we have become much more aware of the bounty that is all around us and ready for the taking. I was raised neighbors to a dear old lady and friend who "got it" and despite trying to teach me, I never did until now.

Mrs. Widner would dig dandelion roots for tea, pick mint and watercress from the creek beds. She could find a use for any "weed" and encouraged me to do the same but I wasn't on board with her old hippie ways. I didn't realize at the time that her lifestyle would soon be ever so hip with words to describe it like "green" and "sustainable".

With a combination of our new foraging knowledge and appreciation for what Wright calls "the wild larder", Julian and I are paying more and more attention to the things around us and how they may be used for FREE.  This made me perk up ever so much when we were making our usual Saturday morning rounds down the road to the farmers market and spotted this gem:

This place in the road is a spot owned by a family that has an excavating company. They have been filling in and leveling out the spot for a bit now. Unfortunately, this makes our neighbors think that any junk/dirt/rock/trash they have can be dumped there too. Boo hiss, bad neighbors.

Fortunately, someone decided to dump some old dirt which contained some fairly invincible iris rhizomes. We had no idea the iris were there amid the poison ivy and cattails until they bloomed this week. Dear hubby, being quite dear indeed, saw the blooming iris same as I did. He was driving and we pulled into the garage, grabbed the shovel and a bucket, and back down the road we went. We had one of those moments.

We traipsed through the ditches and poison ivy and grabbed a big bunch of rhizomes, plopped them in our container and went on our merry way as quickly as we'd come, iris in hand.

And last but not least, you can weigh in on whether or not I've successfully identified it through the HIPS website. See 'Cardinal' on here and compare with my picture, and let me know if you think its right!