Friday Favorites

My Friday favorites this week highlight some things that belonged to my grandmother. Just before Ray and I were married my grandmother sent me her set of good china, her crystal, and her silverware. I rarely used the dishes and the crystal for fear of breaking them, they were only brought out a few times each year. After my grandmother passed I packed up all her good china and gave it to one of my nieces, and I put away her crystal and her silver and I will give those to my daughters when they move into homes of their own.
When my sister, my sister-in-law, and myself were cleaning out my grandmother’s apartment I came across her everyday dishes in her kitchen cupboards and I took them for myself to use. These dishes are not saved for only special occasions, I enjoy them and I use them everyday. I love their vintage look and I love the fact that they were used everyday by my grandparents and my Dad while he was growing up.


I also have a picture of Jesus with Martha and Mary that belonged to my grandmother. I always loved this picture and I always loved that Bible story of Martha reprimanding her sister Mary for not helping with the household duties and seeking support from Jesus only to be told by Him that she shouldn’t fret so much about the chores and to be more like her sister Mary who had chosen wisely when she chose to listen to the Word of God.
Although, I did always feel a little sorry for Martha because someone had to ‘take care of business’. And I feel that Martha is very much like many of us, finding it hard to strike a balance.
This picture hung in my grandmother’s living room and now it hangs in our living room. (Sorry for the glare on the picture. The colors are very muted, but it's not as faded as is depicted here.)


Another favorite of mine is a chair that belonged to my grandmother. It has been recovered many times. One time my mother had it reupholstered for my grandmother as a gift and the upholsterer changed the style of the chair from a channel-backed chair to what my grandmother called a ‘tub’ chair. After my grandmother passed I had it reupholstered again and restored to it’s original design with the channel back (hard to see in this picture though). I love this chair, but as you can see, it is in need of recovering again. I've seen pictures of it (black and white pictures only) and my grandmother said it was originally covered in a colorful floral pattern, and if I can convince my husband to paint and spruce up our living room and dining room I will have the chair restored to something resembling it’s original splendor.
The next ‘favorite’ is not a favorite of mine by any means, but while I was taking pictures my grandson Jayden asked me what I was doing and when I explained to him that I was making a collection of my favorite things he insisted that I had to include some of his favorite toys. So here are some favorite characters that belong to my favorite little character!
I love how he lines them up like they are all marching somewhere (and he kept adding to the parade line).





Weekend Forecast:

Saturday ~
Ray plans to trim the hedges front and back, and do other yard work.
I’m going to try and alter a shower curtain to make a skirt for the base
of the outdoor sink.
I also plan on baking Marcy’s recipe for Blueberry Crumb Cake (posted on her
blog "Blessings Each Day" - thank you, Marcy!).
Then Ray and I will clean out the front room and organize the toys for the
grandkids.

Sunday ~
Beach/Boardwalk or Beach/Fishing (weather permitting).

Have a great weekend everybody!