Silver Sunday: Week Three

Be sure to stop by Gypsy Fish where you will find a list of participants for Silver Sunday! 

Last week I showed you a small green Depression Glass caddy with a silver handle.  This is a Depression Glass ice bucket with a silver handle.  When I brought it home the handle was so tarnished I really thought it was brass underneath, but with a lot of polishing I discovered silver!  The pattern doesn't match the smaller caddy but they certainly could be used together.  I think I'm going to use both of these pieces for flowers.

I love this little glass pitcher.  The base is silver.  It too was extremely tarnished, but it cleaned up quickly with little effort.  I think it would be so cute used for breakfast juice or milk for cereal.

This pinkish-lavender and silver glass tile vase sits in my guest room.  It wasn't very expensive but I've always loved it.  I bought it before I had a lavender room to put it in...some things are just meant to be!

I LOVE my Victorian style mirror!  I've had it for years and it hangs in the hallways right outside our master bedroom.  You can see the wreath on our bedroom door reflected in the mirror.

I have quite a collection of cake plates - and what goes better with cake plates than cake knives and servers!  All are silver and the servers in the middle have embellished handles. 

These two severs say "Merry Christmas"

I loved this silver and rhinestone bracelet as soon as I saw it in a little antique shop in upper Michigan.

This piece is getting old and looks warn for wear but it's priceless to me.  After our rehearsal dinner nearly 40 years ago, my sweetheart drove me home and before I got out of the car to spend the last night in my parents home, Sandy presented me with a gift.  This silver frame was inside.  The left side is embellished with a silver bride and groom and the right side with wedding bells.  Under the bells he had had our names and wedding date engraved.  I loved it then and after all these years of marriage I treasure it.  It has hung above my nightstand all  these years.  I have seen it there for so long I think I stopped seeing it.  Tonight when I took it down and cleaned it up a bit I remembered that evening so long ago when a young man and woman sat in her parents driveway for a kiss goodnight, counting the minutes until she walked down the isle toward him and a brand new future together.

The Lost Generation, A Misnomer

My sister-in-law recently forwarded this video to me and I thought it was worth watching.  Some people say the younger generation is lost, but I happen to disagree.  I think most young people are intelligent, informed, concerned and generally delightful!  Enjoy a thoughtful presentation...

"Lost Genration" created for the AARP video contest

Outdoor Wednesday

Join out hostess with the mostess, Susan, A Southern Daydreamer, to find many posts filled with outdoor beauty!

My husband and I spent most of the last couple of weeks in east Tennessee after my father had a heart attack.  We spent every day for a week at the hospital - and you know how tiring and stressful that can be.  When Dad came home we worked around the house for a couple of days and then the two of us spent a day in the mountains.  My parents live just outside the Smoky Mountain National Park so it's stunningly beautiful all year round.  The mountains in winter look completely different than in warm months.  I miss being able to hop in the car and drive a mere minutes to be be in the middle of complete beauty.  Michigan has it's own claims to fame, but we don't have mountains!  I snapped some pictures as we drove and went to a few of our favorite places in the park. 

Tennessee has actually had winter this year and more than the usual few weeks.  The water that streams out of the rocks continuously froze, creating strange looking shapes - natural works of art!

The streams ran over the rocks rigorously after months of rain and snow.

One of my favorite views is in Cades Cove.  It is the place of the first non Indian settlers in the Smoky Mountains.  In fact, the first was my great-great-great-great grandfather, John Oliver.   If you visit the Smoky Mountains in east Tennessee be sure to go to Cades Cove and drive "The Loop" to see the original homes of the first settlers.  It's interesting to see how incredibly innovative these strong people were and the beauty is incomparable. 

 

The deer are plentiful in the Cove and because hunting is against the law, those gorgeous, graceful creatures come very close.

John Oliver certainly knew how to pick a gorgeous spot to homestead.  What a front porch view!

 

  

John Oliver II was a minister at the Primitive Baptist Church.  The church and graveyard are beautiful.

After several hours of satisfying my "mountain fix" it was time go go back to Mom and Dad's. 

I adore the beach, but these mountains are the place of my childhood and I NEED to be surrounded by them from time to time. Cades Cove in particular, brings a sense of peace and familiarity. When I was a child we spent Sunday afternoons picnicking in the mountains, jumping from rock to rock in the cold streams.  On Memorial Day, or Flag Day as we called it, we picnicked on the Primitive Baptist Church grounds, afterward we cleaned the grave sites and placed flowers on the graves of our ancestors.  I have wonderful memories of the mountains and they still bring a spirit of peace to my soul like no other place can.

Now...I just have to mention one of my very favorite blogs, Miss Gracie's House and suggest that you stop by for some serious inspiration!  Rene and her husband purchased a 100 year old farmhouse and are in the process of making it a beautiful home.  To entice you further, Rene has recently published her 300th post and she is having a give-a-way to celebrate.  Stop by Miss Gracie's soon!

Yippee! I'm Home For Silver Sunday and Mosaic Monday!

I've just come home from spending a week unexpectedly with my parents.  My father had a heart attack last Wednesday.  My husband and I drove to Tennessee to be with my mother and spend time with my dad in the hospital.  Thankfully, I was able to bring him home a few days ago.  He's got a long road ahead of him recovering and regaining strength, but we're all thankful that he's alive and home.

Sunday Silver

I've had this little glass box with silver lid for years...I keep tiny sea shells inside to remind myself that summer WILL come again!

A sweet little mismatched salt and pepper with silver trimmed caps...

I love this shabby-ish divided plate with silver embellishment...

My daughter and son-in-law gave this silver heart to me the first Christmas I was a grandmother.  It hangs on a pretty silver stand and the large heart opens in the center to see a photo of my first granddaughter.  The tiny silver heart is engraved with the year on one side and my granddaughters name on the other.

I love these silver hearts!  I found them at a shop in our little town.  My son thought they were pretty enough to buy one for his bride on their first married Sweetest Day.

My sister-in-law, Jeri, gave me this silver necklace for Christmas this year. I love the sparkling charm too!

This candy dish is a soft, buffed silver...

During one of the most stressful days at the hospital with my father, my sweet husband took me out for a ride.  He knows how much I love antiquing so he stopped at a couple of shops close to the hospital.  I had been looking for a silver sugar scuttle/cellar for months and was tickled pink to find this one!  It has a gorgeous rose pattern and the little scoop sits in it's own little slot at the base of the scuttle.

Some other Tennessee finds...

A green Depression Glass caddy with silver handle...

A cut glass shaker with silver cap...

I already had this shaker with silver lid at home...don't you just love mismatched pairs???

Silver salad servers...

This lamp with a silver base sits on my desk.

Visit Gypsy Fish on Sunday for lots of gorgeous silver posts!

Mosaic Monday

Visit Little Red House on Monday to see some incredible mosaics.