Warmth and Light

It's a cold, blustery day and there's snow in the forecast.

Nothing has actually touched the ground yet, but there were a few flurries.

I'll take that.

 

When it gets cold like this, I sure am grateful for the warmth of a house.

I seem to spend more time in the kitchen, where I can bake or cook and be near a hot stove.

I ended up baking cranberry orange bread today, something I haven't made in awhile.

 

 It was still warm from the oven when we sliced into it and it warmed us up from the inside out.

So good!

I used the recipe from the back of the cranberry bag, which is nearly identical to the one in my old Better Homes and Gardens cook book. Doubled it since one loaf would be gone in a day between the seven of us and if I'm already cooking one, what's the trouble of cooking two?

 

For Veteran's Day, our local food store offered a 10% discount on your entire grocery bill for Veterans. Since Andrew is a Veteran of the Navy, we took advantage of the chance to save a little extra on the groceries. Every little bit helps. Of course, since we're there, might as well stop in the thrift shop right next door, and did we get lucky!!

 

Look what we found:

An awesome mid-century lamp with a 2-tiered fiberglass shade!!

We have been looking for one since forever and they are usually out of our price range when we see them in antique shops. This one went for a mere $8!!

*happy dance*happy dance*happy dance*

 

I did a search on ebay and found 2 lamps just like this one, slightly different shades, and one with a pink base instead of white. One went for $100 and the other $200! This one is not for sale, we're keeping this one and as soon as I can rewire it, it will be used in the living room. I also need to redo the cord that holds the fiberglass to the lamp frame, since it's broken in a couple of spots, but that's an easy fix. The fiberglass shade itself is in perfect condition which is good news.

 

Little by little, our home is slowly looking more and more the way we want it. Slightly modern, but not at all like a museum, because we have to live here with little ones. We try and teach the kids to respect the vintage stuff, the new stuff, too, though there's very little of that here. I think it's sinking in because stuff is still around, though it might be a little more battered than when we first got it. There's a side table I'm a little sad about that has saw marks from a knife and one of the kids gouged a picture on the side of it (grrrrrr!) but for the most part, this is a lived-in house that happens to be filled with vintage stuff.

 

Gretchen told me once that she won't be collecting antiques when she grows up and if we give her anything old, she isn't keeping it.  Well, thanks for the heads up kid, I won't be sending you off with anything vintage! Maybe she'll change her mind someday, but we certainly don't expect them to like the same stuff we do when they grow up. I just hope we can instill an appreciation for vintage things and that they learn to take care of their things, no matter what age it is. Doesn't mean they have to like it, but take care of it.

 

Fingers crossed we find another mid-century lamp with a tiered shade!

And it doesn't take another 20 years to find it!