Show and Tell Friday-Europe

Hello dear friends,
you may recall from last week's post that some old books have found their way to my bookshelves recently. Let me show you today a very special one. First of all it is a gift for which I'm very hankful.

It is a book about Europe. I love travel companions. The world is so big and so beautiful and diverse, and we probably won't see but a tiny part of it in our lifetime. What a nice way to travel back in time simultaneously...

I love old lithographs and books with old fashioned paintings. Wouldn't you love to travel across the Atlantic on that steamer?

There are pictures from across Europe. The time, not that far away, when people still put on their traditional costumes. What a wealth!

Here we are in Greece. There are modern time miracles, too. Like the Isthmus of Corinth, the canal which connects the Peloponnesus peninsula with mainland Greece. It was built in 1893, effectively making the Peloponnesus...an island, and fascilitating boat traffic.

Look at these girls. What kind of life did they lead? They were certainly quite priviledged, since they went to school.

I love this passage...I think I'll put it somewhere on my blog! (Click all pictures to view larger)

Thank you for stopping by today. And Thank You Cindy for hosting. See you all next week.

Show and Tell Friday-New Old books

Hello and welcome to my "Show and Tell". Today I am going to share with you some new old books added to my vintage collection. I have now a few old Scouting books to keep alive the memory of my lovely years as a Girl Guide and Cub Scout Leader.

There is also N.V.Peale's 'The Art of Living'

And there is a book of songs

This book of songs has such lovely old classics. So tender and different from today's noise masquerading as music...
Hmmm! I think I must organise a serious destash to make room for my new nostalgic beauties. A nice company for Shristmas, don't you think?

Thank you for stopping by my 'Show and Tell' and 'Thank You' to Cindy for hosting. See you next week!

Show and Tell Friday-On my desk

Hello dear friends,
For today's Show and Tell , here is a look at my desk.

The caption reads wishing upon a...star

My Mary Engelbreit calendar on top, and the newly customised PC worktop. Those kids that Mary painted look very much like my own children!

Comfort and cheer to you all.
With special Thanks to Cindy of My Romantic Home for hosting.

Thank you for stopping by! See you next week!

Show and Tell Friday-Une bonboniere

Hello dear friends,
Last night we had visitors at the shop. C has a nephew, some ten years his junior, who got married last Saturday. We were invited at the wedding in Athens but we didn't go. We'd have to close the shop at 3p.m., then drive some seven hours to Athens, which means we'd be exhausted and we'd only make it for the wedding dinner. So, although his parents are among C's most loved relatives, we told them that we wouldn't be attending, when they were visiting for another wedding a few weeks ago, and we gave the couple their present, an organic woolen comforter from our shop, yesterday.

C's nephew is a very nice young man, and we got to meet his wife, too. She is a person very much to my taste and temper, not flashy, very down to earth, hard working and with, on top of everything else, very good taste.
They are honeymooning in the area and they stopped by to say hello. They brought us our bonboniere as is the custom, with some extras for relatives who did not attend the wedding.

The ivory colored boxes were tied with two kinds of pink ribbons, and had a heart charm tied on top. Inside there is hard candy, traditionally an almond covered with a sugary coat. There were also pink ones with a cocoa fill as is a la mode.

Our new niece apparently designed and made them herself, which is not usually the case. She did not tell me that, and I didn't ask, but as I opened the box tonight to get a picture, there wasn't a label of the firm that would have made them, as usual. Oh, sweet, eager hands!..

I wish them every happiness.

Many thanks to Cindy of My Romantic Home for hosting a beautiful Show and Tell. Be blessed.

Your rubbish=My treasure~ Show and Tell

In the past few weeks I have indulged in some serious decorating both at work and at home. Truth is, I did some clothes shopping,too. My expanded waistline, thanks to some traditional home cooking in the past couple of weeks, required a pair of black elastic waist trousers and a long, brown, elastic waist skirt. Oh what a blessing to be able to think nicer thoughts than fat-fat-fat!  But nice as this may feel,this is not the kind of shopping I'm talking about.
(N.B. When they tell you that Mediterranean Diet is healthy, they also fail to tell you it is fattening, unless you walk the sheep to high pastures every day or raw a boat. It IS healthy, though, olive oil, veggies et al).

Now, I talk here about vintage. In Grece, much to my surprise, there are no garage sales. You would think that in a country with not much of an economy, people would be willing to sell or share. Not. I tried to introduce the concept in the Girl Guides, but people were reluctant to part with their kids' unwanted books or board games, let alone buy anything less than perfect in our one bazaar. No, no such a thing.

On the other hand, a very nice lady who was the girls' ballet teacher, offered me, and I gladly accepted, her teenage son's baby clothes which lasted J up to the age of three. But she had spent more than half of her life in France. And as we all know, the French know a thing or two about brocante.

What have I been stocking on, you might ask. I am going to show you in a moment. Hint: these items below are part of my Christmas wishlist.

I love my new old treasures and I was equally thrilled to receive some presents full of love and kind thoughts.
As you might have guessed, what I longed for was some housewares. I got really nostalgic. I stocked on some well worn Golden books. A brooch that very much looked like one I remember my mom wearing. I received some doilies. And some old post-cards that I'm going to show you soon.

I increasingly desired a corner of my own, where I would indulge in some more romantic, more feminine elements. And, thank God, it is happening. Here, have a look. This is my little corner in the attic.

Which houses some lovingly sent treasures

 

Lovely vintage lace. Paper and envelopes.

And this is my little cross-stitching corner in the den.

So now you know...Before you throw away your 70s melamine, old enamel pots and depression glass, there is someone across the pond, waiting to treasure them!

With thanks to Cindy for hosting.

Show and Tell Friday-Herbal teas

Hello dear friends, and lovers of the extra-ordinary,
Today I am going to continue on the tin love theme, and show you two tin boxes containing excellent herbal tea leaves.

One is blue, the other is red. The blue one contains alexandrian, or senna, the dried leaves of Cassia acutifolia. It is an efficient purgative either for occasional use or in habitual constipation most appropriate for the use of children and delicate persons, and is especially valuable in hemorrhoids. The infusion of senna can be prepared as follows: Bring to the boil a handful of senna leaves. Cover with lid and leave overnight. Use within two days.



The red one contains leaves and flowers of dittany. Hippocrates recommended dittany for ailments of the digestive track, as well as rheumatism and arthritis. It also used to regulate menstruation. Remember NOT to use milk or sugar with your tea. DO add a few drops of lemon or a teaspoon of honey. Both teas and their tins will soon be available from my new shop.


I hope you enjoyed my Show and Tell. I wish you a very pleasant weekend. With thanks to Kelli for being our gracious host.

Show and Tell Friday-Greek Traditional Costumes

Hello,
Today for Show and Tell Friday, I am going to show you a collection of cards. They are small in size, like a Marlboro packet, but they are full color and very detailed. They depict traditional folk costumes from many regions of Greece.


Top row, left to right: From the island of Chios, in the Aegean Sea, Eastern Greece. From Delphoi, central mainland Greece.
Second row l to r: From the region of Macedonia, Northern Greece. From the region of Epirus, NW mainland Greece.
Bottom set, left to right: From the island of Crete, South Aegean sea. From the island of Rhodes, Eastern Aegean Sea. From the island of Corfu, Ionian Sea, Western Greece.
Bottom row, l to r: The Amalia, the national Greek costume par excellence. Originally created for the first Queen of Modern Greece, Amalia, assembling elements from various regional costumes. Another one from the region of Macedonia. And last, Attica, where Athens is situated.

Thank you for stopping by and looking at my collection! With thanks to Kelli for being our wonderful host.

Show and Tell Friday-Hansaplast in a tin

I find it so thoughtful when product makers go the extra mile and think of something nice and useful to embellish the ordinary. Look at that tin box, celebrating 85 years of Hansaplast.

Once you open it, there is the usual paper box of band aids. Only it also has a vintage look.
Band aids here are called Hansaplast and they are so famous that using a hansaplast is as synonymous to a band aid as hoovering is synonymous to sweeping your floors with an electric device that may well be a Miele or a Siemens. You'd still call it a hansaplast even if it were an actuaql Band Aid.

Inside, the familiar assorted strips, and once out of strips, I may refill it to make a not so pleasant task, slightly happier.

Have a look at more Show and Tell here, thanks to our host, Kelli.

Show and Tell Friday-Paper napkins

Did you collect paper napkins as a child? I did. Stamps and paper napkins and Sarah Kay stickers. Today I am showing you some of my Christmas napkins.
There are red and greens...

There are blues and golds...

Did you notice the one I rescued from the Millenium celebrations?

And because four out of five in this family have our birthdays in December and January, there also are some Happy Birthday ones in the mix!


I hope you had fun! And Hip Hip to Kelli for hosting.

Show and Tell Friday-Autumn and Pumkins

Hello dear home making, life appreciating ladies,
It feels so good to be back into blogging and visiting you all again:-)
I so much love the Autumn! The air is fragrant and fresh, the rain is refreshing after the long, dry summer, and simple pleasures that are close to my heart such as cooking and dressing up with colorful cardigans get so much more interesting for me!

In this part of the world there is no such thing as Halloween, so there are no pumpkins around, nor tricks and treats and no Thanksgiving in sight. Gladly we do live in the provinces where finding pumpkins is feasible, though people often wonder why I have them on display. Besides, here are very few people I know of who like cooking with them.

My daughters always longed for some American celebration, but when they were younger I felt uncomfortable with it because there was no one else to celebrate with, so we were always postponing it. Now that they are quite grown up to ask and receive, gifts from heaven began dropping upon us, and I'd love to share them with you.

So, this is our entrance.
Our good friend Maria brought us the pomegranates from her husband's farm in Kolindros which is in Macedonia, Northern Greece. They are the most beautiful ones I have seen, healthy and juicy. Thank you, dear friend!

Just in time for celebration came a parcel from Lallee's Cottage. We all oughed and ahhed over the beautiful, juicy, crochetted pumpkins that brought such a festive flair to our entry hall.

Some other time in the past I would have wished I'd had made them myself. But time and some reflection upon life make me feel grateful for the lovely, creative people who add their skills of beauty and creation to my life. Yes, dear friends, blessed abundance doesn't mean making it all yourself and burning up in the process. So relax and enjoy, and be very very grateful for the beauty around us.

As some of you know, back in June we moved into our new home. During September we had the backyard planted with some trees and grass. We planted our aging fir tree and tiny apple tree. We also bought two maple trees. One turns yellow in the Autumn, the other red.

This is the red one, that has began shedding her leaves. Don't they look like jewells on the green grass?

Wishing you a very happy Autumn.