Our Chinese Trunk

Our Family Heirloom

Chinese Chest

My husband's aunt gave this chest to us about thirty years ago. We were thrilled to get it. The story is amazing. A relative of her's along with her husband were missionaries in China in the 1930's.

The political climate of China, particularly Shanghi, was volatile.

In 1931, just as the magazine started publication, anger against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in northern China reverberated throughout the country. In cities like Shanghai, Chinese residents organized boycotts of Japanese goods. Perhaps in retaliation for the boycotts, Japanese forces bombed Shanghai on January 28, 1932. Japanese troops withdrew by the end of May, only to return with a full-scale invasion in 1937. Around the time that Ling long magazine ceased publication in 1937, Nationalists and Communists set aside their political differences to form a united front against the Japanese. --- Ling long Women's Magazine

According to the story the relative and her husband were required to give up their post and return to the United States.

The trunk is in beautiful condition. I wish I could describe the inside of the trunk as it has the most wonderful woodsy smell. The lock and key are unique.. at least to me.

Somehow when I look at this trunk the movie,

"Inn of the Sixth Happiness" comes to mind.

I'll be linking to

My Romantic Home for

Show and Tell Friday

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

A Bunny and My Bunnykins

I've always had a passion for Bunnykins!

While on vacation in Colorado my husband along with my cousin, Norma Jean and her husband made the rounds of some great antiques malls. I already had a few Bunnykins  plates and a cup. Somewhere in the land of unpacked boxes

from a move is my first set of Bunnykins plate, bowl and cup. But we won't go there at this time...

Not familiar with Bunnykins?

The chinaware line originated with artwork by Mary Barbara Bailey, the daughter of Cuthbert Bailey, general manager of Doulton during the 1930s. Unbeknownst to the public, Mary Barbara Bailey was not a professional illustrator, but a nun in the Augustinian Canonesses of the Lateran.[1] Introduced in 1934, Bunnykins tableware depicted Mr. and Mrs. Bunnykins and other rabbits dressed in human clothing, in colourful rural and small-town English scenes, transfer-printed on white china. The earliest pieces, signed by Vernon, are quite rare and highly prized. Bunnykins china was used by Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret and thus became a popular present given as christening and birthday gifts in middle-class English homes. -- Wikipedia

I was so thrilled to find a little over half of these dishes. They were easy to spot in these malls. I do not see them often in the malls in Texas around Houston and Austin. Interesting...

The rabbit lamp just seems to want to be there with these dishes. I found him at South Padre Island this past weekend at Tuesday Morning.

There are no new babies on the horizon in our family but surely there will be some day. These dishes and lamp will set the theme for the nursery in our home or perhaps in their parents' home. It's fun to dream...

AND...

This absolutely has nothing to do with dishes or the lamp, but when I mention my cousin Norma, then I have to share with you she and I are more like sisters.

Our mothers, even though they were aunt and niece, were much like sisters. Our mothers had a tradition of laughing it up, especially in the kitchen and then seeing who could kick the highest. Yes, they did!

Well, now Norma and I are carrying on the tradition.

So here we are... it's the crack of dawn and we are

getting ready to make the early morning drive to the airport... hence the not-so-high kick.. well, that's our excuse and we're stickin' to it!!

I've had such a good time with this post and I am linking to Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

and

A Stroll Through Life for Table Top Tuesday

http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

Make sure you visit both of these blogs.

They're wonderful!!

Our Family Gathers for Our Traditional Hunt

Our Family Gathers

A great family weekend!

Our family enjoyed a memorable Labor Day weekend recently. A rare occurance... our sons and grandchildren together. We missed the wives, but a recent move and work made it impossible for them to join us.

The Peterson family has gathered for dove hunting for decades. The redevelopment of most of our original farm land, our move to Mexico, the passing of parents and children marrying and moving away had caused a slight "skip" in tradition... however, this past Labor Day weekend hunt seems to have brought it all back.

The arrival of our two grandchildren and oldest son from Mexico started the four day weekend.

Our middle son drove in from Houston on Saturday.

Fortunately our youngest son lives nearby and helped us to

organize the fun weekend.

We gathered at a famous restaurant in Rio Grande City, Texas... Caro's, a family favorite Mexican food establishment

that the family has dined at for years.

Later in the afternoon we headed out to the hunt.

Children and guns are never a good mix but with very close

adult supervision all of our children have grown up to be

responsible hunters.

This is the best White Wing Dove Recipe I've ever tasted.

Rio Grande Whitewings

16 whitewing doves

salt and pepper

garlic powder

flour

1 lb. butter

1 small bottle Worcestershire Sauce

1 c. cream sherry

1 1/2 c. water

Season birds with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Dredge heavily with flour. Melt butter in a large skillet, preferably iron, until nearly burning. Cook birds quickly on both sides and place in ungreased baking dish. Pour butter left in skillet over birds. Mix Worcestershire sauce, sherry, water, more salt and pepper and a dash of garlic powder; pour over birds. Bake uncovered at 300 degrees for 2-3 hours, depending on desired tenderness of birds.

La Pinata Cookbook - Junior League of McAllen, Texas

Mrs. Jerry Fair

I like to serve this with brown rice with some of the liquid from the birds poured over it.



I am linking to Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

                                                http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Never Forget

Praying for the families and friends of the victims of 9/11

as well as all whose lives were impacted by this

horrific event.

Also praying for all of our men and women who are serving in our Armed Forces.

God saved us and our country.

I'm "teal toed"!

I'm "Teal-Toed"....

for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

When my young friend, Heather, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the ripe "old" age of 27, life just flipped over so to speak... nothing seemed normal (whatever that is) and we all knew that life was going to be quite a ride for the next several years.

In a few weeks Heather will make her final trip as a cancer patient to MD Anderson. It will mark the end of five years of testing. She will then be turned over to another department as one who has recovered from cancer...

a "cancer survivor"!

Thank God for medical advancements... and just plain

thank GOD!

Heather's faith, her husband's, her parents', her brother's, her relative's and us plain ol' friend's faith has carried us through this journey.

Heather was still a young bride when her diagnosis came through. All hope of having her own baby was dashed.

God blessed her and her husband, Jared, with a sweet baby boy they adopted and named "Beau".

Life has come together for this family.

So many blessings...

--Symptoms of ovarian cancer are not specific to the disease, and they often mimic those of many other more-common conditions, including digestive and bladder problems.

--When ovarian cancer symptoms are present, they tend to be persistent and worsen with time. Signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer may include:


Abdominal pressure, fullness, swelling or bloating
Pelvic discomfort or pain
Persistent indigestion, gas or nausea
Changes in bowel habits, such as constipation
Changes in bladder habits, including a frequent need to urinate
Loss of appetite or quickly feeling full
Increased abdominal girth or clothes fitting tighter around your waist
A persistent lack of energy
Low back pain

Heather, Jared and Little Beau

"The Boxcar Children" - of Texas

The Box-Car Children, based on the writings of Gertrude C. Warner,  was absolutely my favorite book as a child around eight to ten years of age. It shaped my way of thinking in so many ways that as I think back on it now I wonder what might have been had I not read this wonderful series. Of course, the books I read were the "re-write" of the popular childrens' books. I never actually thought to look for the books as an adult. One day as I was checking out of a store I saw a stack of The Box-Car Children books for sale. The art work was updated. My first inclination was to snatch up the books and take them home, but then I thought.. no, I loved the way I remembered the series. A group of parent-less children living in an abandoned box car with the oldest child in charge. That was about all that I remembered. Not much to go on, but then, being the oldest child in our family I took my position seriously.

The older sister of a neighbor friend of mine also took her position seriously. She would gather about five or six of us together, load up a little red wagon with snacks, sandwiches, mason jars of ice water (I remember now that I wrote about this a couple of years ago!) and off we would go for the day to the park that was probably about a 15 minute walk from our neighborhood. There was a cluster of trees that had two trunks that appeared to have grown together... it made the perfect "couch". We swept the ground removing leaves, twigs, pebbles and we drew our houses in the sand . Now I pause here in my bestest childhood memory to guide you to *White Spray Paint, entry August 4, 2011, where my dear friend and neighbor, Laura, recalls a childhood memory just as dear to her. Back to the park: We placed little rocks on our lines, leaving an opening for the front door. At this point we were a blend of "The Box-Car Children" and "Ma and Pa Kettle" and all their young brood. We even had names such as "Archibald" and "Sissy". We were in the land of make-believe for hours. This escapade would occur probably every two weeks or so. We never, ever tired of this game. It's such a precious memory for me and Laura triggered those memories when she wrote about her cousins. Please be sure to visit her blog and enjoy what she has written.

Some of the girls in this picture were privileged to make the trip to the park with us. That is me in the back with the hat and the "beard" made of burned cork. ... which inspired my interest in theater makeup... but that is a story for another day!

* White Spray Paint

http://whitespraypaint.blogspot.com/