Come Along With Us

Wouldn't it be fun to spend a few days with "the girls" in a little pink camper like this?

My sister, Joanne, who knows I dream of vintage campers, just emailed me this photo. She saw this old pink trailer sitting all by itself in a salvage yard in Massachusetts and snuck in to take a picture of it. She's even already named it ..."Ramblin' Rose".

I think half the fun of having a little vintage camper would be in decorating it...

Source:  kitchyliving.com

It would be a bit like playing house...

Source: The Vintage Housewife blog

A chance to forget all the decorating "rules" ...

Source: vintage camperlove.com

And be guided by the colorful whimsy of childhood.

Source: shellbellestikihut.com

I'd load up my little trailer with one or two old pairs of jeans, the pile of books I've been meaning to read, some wine and cheese...and my laptop, of course...for blogging from the road.

Source: retrorenovation.com

I'd detour to pick up blog friends along the way...so we could get to know each other in person, in real time.

Our orange t@b

It would be a quick trip from Maine to pick up Pamela in New Brunswick. She could play with her camera as we made our way to Claudia's home in New York State. I would love the chance to see Claudia's amazing collection of McCoy pottery.

inside my little Casita

We'd wind our way south, too,  to hit some Georgia flea markets with Linda. After a really long little side trip to Minnesota to learn how Vickie manages to bend wire into chandeliers, we could drive west along Route 66...

to a cozy little blue house in Oklahoma...

handmade for me by Paula Clare at Paula's Palace of Altered Art blog

To give sweet Brenda big hugs...because she really needs them right now.

Source: TCT.com

Maybe we'd all share some sweet tea and lemonade as we trade our stories...

handmade for me by Paula Clare at Paula's Palace of Altered Art blog

And came to realize that, as far apart as we are in distance, as women we all have similar life experiences and common bonds.

Source: Sisters On the Fly.com

As we wander, I hope we'd meet up with the Sisters On the Fly. I've always wanted to join these ladies. They describe themselves as...

 "A group of women who challenge ourselves in all that we set our minds to do. We have no age or color. We range in age from 88 to 21 with most in between."  

Source: Sisters On the Fly.com

"We welcome all women who want to share the adventures of 'sisterhood'."

Source: Sisters On the Fly.com

"We have vintage trailers that we take on Cowgirl Caravan trips around the country. They are decorated inside and out in usually a western kitschy theme."

Source: Sisters On the Fly.com

"After all, 'There is a little Cowgirl in all of us'”.

Source: Sisters On the Fly.com

I think we'd fit right in with this group of creative women! Maybe my blog friends and I  could even earn a few badges while we're camping with the "sisters"...

Source: Sisters On the Fly.com

If you look closely, you'll see badges for attending The Cowgirl Prom (we'd need to pack our "fancy" dresses for that!), making a perfect Martini, overcoming troubles (The Purple Heart badge...Brenda deserves that one!), and my favorite, the badge for "Going Potty outdoors".

handmade for me  by Paula Clare at Paula's Palace of Altered Art blog

In my vintage camper dream, we'd stop to pick up each and every one of you, wherever you are in blogland, take the turns in the road as they come, share our stories, and dance like nobody's watching.

Want to come along???

This post is linked to:

Vintage Inspiration at Common Ground

Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

My Sister's Scarves

When my sister, Nancy, first lost her hair from chemo in 2005, I started sewing scarves...

and I didn't stop for five years.

I thought I was making the scarves to help Nancy but I realize now that I was doing it to help myself  too.

.

The sicker Nancy got, the more I sewed...

Nancy had a scarf for every occasion...

for her favorite cat...

 her favorite team...

and for every holiday.

Her 3rd grade students loved the fact that "Mrs. Tufts" always had the perfect scarf for every classroom party!

She kept them pinned to a little clothesline in her bedroom.

 I made so many scarves that Nancy couldn't possibly wear them all...

 so we began to make scarves to donate to other women going through chemo.

Monday night, Nancy's husband, Aaron, stopped by...

to bring me Nancy's scarves.

Holding them flooded me with memories...I held my nose to them to try to smell Nancy...to feel her with me again.

A few days have passed. I think I'm ready to let go of Nancy's scarves. Tomorrow I'll wash and iron them to donate to the Maine Womens' Cancer Center.

And while I'm at it, maybe I'll finish all the rest of them that are cut out and ready to be sewn up...so that other women can wear them.

I think Nancy would like that.

In loving memory of my sister, Nancy Tufts

1952 - 2010

Tupperware...A Collectible Now?

Boy, do I feel old! 

 I just realized that Tupperware is now considered "vintage".

According to a "What's It Worth"" article in Country Living, this set of Tupperware nesting bowls with lids (which I think we all had at some point) is now worth $45.00 as a collectible...if I'd only known!

Saturday I stopped in at a local flea market and lo and behold...a whole booth full of "vintage" Tupperware...

Recognize any of these oldies but goodies? I sure do!

I think I spy a "cracker keeper" and "lettuce keeper" in this photo...we all thought we needed those back in the day, didn't we?

And how about the ever-handy "Deviled Egg Tray"? This one was priced at $10.00 at the flea market.

This Tupperware postcard from the Tupper Diva website features the Egg Tray ready to party...

When I got home from the flea market, I rummaged around in the back of the pantry closet and found that I still had  my very own Deviled Egg Tray. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I must have actually purchased one at some point...handy for those deviled eggs I make about once every five years. What was I thinking?

And who can forget molded jello salads...a hit at every dinner party in the 60's and early 70's.  My favorite at the time was lime jello with cottage cheese and chopped walnuts.

Yup...I found the jello mold in my pantry too. I've lost all but one of the interchangeable designs for the top but otherwise it's still in pretty good shape.

And who could forget the excitement of the neighborhood Tupperware party? Maybe as young mothers we were just desperate for any excuse to get out of the house. At these events we played silly games (I hated those) and then sold plastic bowls to one another. One question: Were we CRACKED???

If you already had plenty of bowls, you could always find decorative accessories for your table at a Tupperware party. Remember this Sputnik-inspired salt and pepper set? Looking back, I wonder why the kids weren't afraid that it would blast off for galaxies unknown in the middle of dinner.

Speaking of Tupperware parties, do you remember that women actually dressed up to go to them?

1950's...

1960's...

2012...We women have finally figured out how to party...

We can attend each other's blog parties in our pajamas, no purchase required. And if we find ourselves craving deviled eggs in front of the computer?  Forget the Tupperware...a paper plate will do just fine!

Do you remember Tupperware parties?

p.s.  Can you tell that it's school vacation week? This teacher/blogger finally has time to write some of the many posts I've been carrying around in my head for awhile!

 

Linking up tonight to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life