Thrifty Thursday

 Happy Thrifty Thursday. Well you know I had to visit a few thrift stores as Mr. Pinker and I made our way home from our long camping trip. Pickins' were slim, but I did come home with a few fabulous finds. Before you ask  - Nope- no cookie jars or bean pots this time. Hee! Hee! But not because I wasn't looking for them. LOL. (Many of y'all know my obsession with cookie jars. )

 This Ball recipe book will come in handy as I harvest my garden. I believe it is a 1932 edition.  Anytime I see a piece of Pflatzgraff for a song and dance, I certainly pick it up. This time I found 2 pieces. 

Sharp- eyed Mr. Pinker spotted the cabbage chopper/ slicer for just $6.00. I couldn't leave it behind. It was the most expensive piece I bought. So I don't think that is too bad. Do you? 

 I am on the search for more  potato mashers. These two I found last year. 

A little apple pitcher joined the couple of Watt bowls that I found last month. Delicious! 

A pretty pink bowl will be perfect for spring decor. 

And look at all of these vintage doilies and potholders!  May I say that I am thrilled to pieces?!!!

And finally, the lady at the antique store said I got an amazing deal when I bought the pear shaped milk glass plates for just $.50 for all three. 😲Now that is my kind of prices. 😀💗❤

Now you may be wondering if I came home with any quilts. Well, not from that camping trip, but... the other day I went to the thrift store and found 3 vintage quilts just waiting for me to snatch them up.  I will show you them in future posts. 

Do you like to go thrifting?  

Have a beautiful day, Sweeties and thank you for dropping by to visit. 

 As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"walk a mile in my shoes and you will end up at the thrift store. 😀 " - Unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy and my Nanny who both were the Queens of thrifting.  Love and miss  Amo, and Nanny. 

I found these pieces at the Dollar Tree . I thought they might make good finishing pieces for Patriotic stitching in the future. 

 I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needleworkers to meet. 

Cecilia at My Thrifted Store Addiction for Vintage Charm- Wednesday

Joy at Days Filled with Joy for Home Matters

I finished stitching Summertime U.S.A. Stamp. Now it's time to make it into a pin pillow! 

Wordless Wednesday - Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve

Happy , Happy Wednesday! I hope your  week has been a lovely one thus far. I thought I would post a "Not So Wordless Wednesday " post. It is like a "Wordless Wednesday post but with a few words. Hee! Hee! 

One of our last destinations when camping was Pawhuska, OK. We always enjoy visiting the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. There you will find one of the largest bison herds here in the U.S.  and the largest protected tallgrass prairie in the world. I hope you enjoy these few snapshots. 

 

There are over 2000 bison here at the preserve. 

He is handsome. 

Flowers at the visitor center. 

Butcher block in the bunkhouses

One of the bunks with a beautiful quilt. 

Table runner in the bunkhouses. 

I am off to seize the day! I  hope you do the same. I wish you the most delightful day!

As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"Be the buffalo - charge the storm.  " - unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy who always charged the storms.   Love and miss you,

 Gotta run! See ya!

OOOPS - CORRECTION- Yesterday I posted Summertime U.S.A. Stamp. Well there is a correction to the chart. I updated my post about it . 

CORRECTION NEEDED: The "R" in the rind should be "W" at 2 points. 

Summertime U.S.A. Stamp is in the works. 

Chores, A Recipe and A Patriotic Stitch

 I am home!  Welcome y'all. 

Big Ole' Red and the old camper barreled into the driveway a little before midnight. It is time to unpack , wind down and tackle those "back home chores" .Whew where do I begin? 

First up, laundry.  Loads and loads of it. 

The enamelware pan is my newest thrifty find along with the tattered quilt. 

Then the gardens. Pull weeds, harvest vegetables and water, water , water. 

 Yep! We have squash to harvest. 

And zucchini. Bring on the zucchini bread. Hee! Hee! 😋

Will I be able to slip in some stitching time? I sure hope so. 

I finished the Patriotic Mini Sampler while camping. Soon I will fully finish this little jewel. 😀

P.S.- I corrected the charts on the post and added some enlarged ones.   

A recipe I am going to try-

Creamy White Bean Chicken Chili

Servings: 6

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cups onion, chopped

1/4 cups of corn oil ( I will use olive oil)

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 inch cubes

3 ( 15. 5 ounce ) cans of great northern beans with liquid

1 cup chicken broth

2 ( 7 oz. ) cans of diced green chiles , drained

3/4 cups of sour cream

1/2 cup of green onions, sliced

1/4 cups of cilantro chopped 

salt / pepper

Hot sauce or jalapenos to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in large stockpot. Add onion, garlic , cumin, oregano and red pepper flakes. Saute until onion is tender. Add chicken to stockpot and saute until browned. Add beans , broth, green chiles. Simmer until chicken is cooked through. Stir in sour cream, green onion and cilantro. Season to taste with salt, pepper, hot sauce or jalapenos. 

Every year I like to add a new patriotic stamp to my collection. I hope to start Summertime U. S.A. soon.  

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If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

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OOOOPS- CORRECTION: I am sorry but there are 2 mistakes in the chart. Along the rind, I mislabeled 2 stitches "R" when it should have been "W". You may spot them in the photo where I have the points of the scissors. I do apologize. If you decide to stitch this little stamp, remember to take note of that.  ( My printer is a little goofy right now , so I will probably not reprint this. It is an easy enough fix to make on the chart. ) Thank you . Hugs

CORRECTION NEEDED: The "R" in the rind should be "W" at 2 points. 

Alrighty, y'all, I better get to work. We are not unloading the camper yet. We still have another camping trip on the agenda very soon.  

Oh , before I leave, I just have to thank you for following along with me on my camping adventures. We had a root tootin' time on the road and I am so very grateful you joined me from afar. 

Now you have a terrific Tuesday. 

Mini Patriotic Jar Stamp and Pop Goes The Fireworks Truck Stamp

As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"Home is the heart's nesting place.  " - Unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy. Love and miss you, Amo. 

Homeward Bound

 Hello , Sweet peas. The last I left off on my traveling tales, we had weathered a tornado and a hailstorm, but we were moving eastward. We  passed  by farm after farm. It was hay season in Oklahoma.  I knew the same thing was going on back home as well. 

Our next stop was  the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge. 

It was time to dig some crystals.

 We explored sites where others had dug and also dug holes of our own. 

We picked up a number of crystals for the grandsons.  They enjoy rocks and crystals so they will be quite happy. 

By evening time, it was time to move on to find our next camping spot. 

Meanwhile, I finished the Spring Wildflower Mini Sampler. 

Floss colors:

Flowers- DMC 3858, 934, 729

Letters: DMC 610

Doohickeys: DMC 830

We are homeward bound. Soon I will fully finish my sampler. 

As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"No matter who you are or where you are instinct tells you to go home.  " -unknown

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy who lived simply and  bloomed wildly.   Love and miss you,

Outhouse near Clear Creek Reservoir. 

Traveling Tales and A Mini Sampler Freebie

Good morning, Sunshine and welcome! 🌞🤗

I have more tales by the campfire . 

We spent a couple of nights with the most spectacular view of the mountains just outside of Poncha Springs.

 

BLM near Poncha Springs

It was time to move eastward and soon we found our way back on the banks of the Arkansas River where we stayed a couple of days. It was a relaxing stay, and we often saw many rafters floating  and paddling down the river.  

Arkansas River,  near Salida CO

" Time to head back to Maxwell, " said Mr. Pinker. So we trucked south and spent a night at our usual spot at the Maxwell National Wildlife Refuge. As the sun began to set, the skies opened up and hail pounded the camper. But the next morning the sun peeked out and we saw an antelope resting in the field.

From there we decided to make our way to the panhandle of Oklahoma. 

As we made our way down the road, the wind began to pick up. Having a top heavy camper we decided to pull over and wait the storm out. For a moment we went inside the camper; upon stepping out my eyes widened!  "Holy smokes what is that ?!" I asked Mr. Pinker as a tornado loomed in the distance . "Is it coming our way? "

 Luckily it was not. Wheeww! We intently watched the tornado. Off in the distance, we could hear what I thought were emergency sirens though I am not sure. After about 15 minutes the tornado dissipated and we were on our way. 

"This sure has been an exciting trip - weather wise." I said to Mr. Pinker. 

"Yep, - heat, snow , sleet, hail and now a tornado, '" he replied. "What will we have next?", he sighed. 

As we moved eastward, little bright flowers began to dance in my head. I was dreaming  of my gardens back at home. I knew the flower and veggie gardens were in good hands with my daughter and son-in-law, but oh, how I wanted to play in the dirt.

My driveway garden - mid May 2025

Seeing all of the pretty blooms as we have traveled has made me miss my flowers terribly. 

Soon I pulled out some fabric and a chart that I had brought along and began to stitch. 

Another mini sampler with flowers would certainly, fill my heart with joy as I settled into camp.

This is Spring Wildflower Mini Sampler. It is a CHOOSE YOUR OWN color chart. The colors in the chart do not necessarily depict the colors that I will use. In fact , you can see that I have already started stitching one flower. I will share my colors when I finish this little sampler.

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵 🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

Well, Sweeties. I have rambled long enough. Thank you so much for following along with me as we have been traversing the countryside. I will talk to ya' soon. 

As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"Garden as though you will forever.  " - William Kent.

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy who lived simply and  bloomed wildly.   Love and miss you,

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🌞Parade of Homes- Early 2025 parade of home freebies.

🌞 Root A Toot Toot Patriotic Parade Early 2024 patriotic freebies. 

🌞Buzz Buzz Busy Bee Parade-  An early 2024 bee freebie parade.