Deer Day on the Countdown to Christmas

Deer, deer, and more deer. 

Thrifting update: A successful shopping trip for me included 32 uncut sewing patterns, mainly Vogue ones, CDs sealed in package, and a mystery bag of fabric $15 total.

I keep these needlework characters to combine with others into one quilt. 

This retro print snowman patchwork fabric was part of the mystery bag. 

These sad "X" blocks will be removed from their borders and rehabilitated. I think there are some really nice fabrics there. I am going to call this project the 👉X Factor.

Lastly, mystery bag of fabric produced these 4 fan pieces. Those sold alone will cover the cost of my thrifting day. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185219101128

Out of the total mystery bag of fabric, I kept about 1/4 of it and thrifted back the rest. This last image is a retro remnant from the lot. 

Recipe of the Day from the Antique American Cookbooks Home Cookery Ladies' Indispensable Companion:

To Bake a Pig's Head

Scrape and wash the head, and dig out the eyes, and trim the snout; score it, lay it in a baking pan, and use salt and water to season it. If you like sage, sprinkle a little pulverized over it. It takes three hours to cook. Make a pan gravy. 

Christmas trivia: What song does a caroler sing outside of Scrooge's office? God Rest You Merry Gentlemen.

What I am listening to:

Count Your Blessings for the Trees

I am blessed to live amongst a grove of oak trees. I want to start Blue Spruce Christmas trees. I know it would take a few years for trees to reach maturity, why not start now? 

This Wayne Kleski tree purse was offered through shopgoodwill.com. 

Christmas tree cozy

Recipe of the Day from the Antique American Cookbooks Home Cookery Ladies' Indispensable Companion:

French Bologna Sausages

Chop fine 4 pounds of lean beef, into which put 1 pound of chopped suet, the same quantity of lean chopped ham; season with allspice, bay salt, pepper, and saltpetre, and a little garlic, with a pinch or two of bay leaves pounded. Mix the whole well together, and tie up in skins the size of a wrist. Dry in the same manner as tongues or smoked beef, and eat without boiling. 

Christmas trivia: Bayonets flashing, music crashing, sabres clinking, and soldier winking, the setting of this song is in a toy shop. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.

What I am listening to:

Maxine and the Santa Faces

This Maxine bell pull was a thrift shop find. Can you see the Santa face in the quilting pattern in the quilt background behind her? 

Recipe of the Day from the Antique American Cookbooks Home Cookery Ladies' Indispensable Companion:

Sweet Sauce for Venison

Take two thirds of a teacup of sugar, two teacups of claret wine, put them on the fire, and then they become thick, add two teacups of currant jelly. Stir it well, but do not let it burn.

Christmas trivia: What color are colly birds? (I always thought it was "calling" birds). They are black.  

What I am listening to:

Angel Felines

A catastic tree!

Recipe of the Day from the Antique American Cookbooks Home Cookery Ladies' Indispensable Companion:

To Pot Rabbit

Cut up two or three young, but full-grown ones; take the leg bones off at the thigh, and leave out the heads and bodies; pack them closely in a small pan, seasoning with pepper and mace, Cayenne, salt, and allspice, all in powder; add a good deal of butter, and bake the whole gently. The livers may be added. 

Christmas trivia: What happened to the drummer boy's lamb when he played his song for the Baby Jesus? He came back to life.

What I am listening to:

Peppermint Candy Bear

Peppermint Candy Bear was found in the last days of October at my favorite hospice thrift shop. 

Sharing a Pattern of the Day with a retro cool image of 1968 fashion. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185212038349

In the late 1960s, it was not uncommon for a young lady to wear gloves. 

Recipe of the Day from the Antique American Cookbooks Home Cookery Ladies' Indispensable Companion:

Stewed Veal

Cut your veal in suitable pieces for helping to, put it in the pot, and cover it with water; add two carrots cut into cubes, pepper and salt, with three or four slices of pork. Shake in flour to thicken it. Stew till tender. 

Christmas trivia: In what ocean are the Australian-controlled Christmas Islands? Indian Ocean.

What I am listening to:

Weird and Wacky Day on the Countdown to Christmas

While I am a fan of collectible dolls, this Christmas card seems creepy to me. 

The image above is a Colossal Papier Mache Christmas Balls from the 1976 BHG Treasures from Throwaways.  The papier mache is placed over the inflated weather balloon. 

Christmas trivia: In England, what does finding a button in the plum pudding mean to an unmarried man? Bachelorhood.

Recipe of the Day from the Antique American Cookbooks Home Cookery Ladies' Indispensable Companion:

New York Plum Pudding

Butter a pudding dish, and grate into it a stale loaf; over this put a layer of raisins and pieces of butter with cinnamon sprinkled in. Then make as good a custard as you choose, and pour slowly over the whole. Make two layers of the bread, salt to taste. Bake one hour.

What I am listening to:

Rejoice Definitely and being a Die Hard fan

This Rejoice Definitely ornament was in a bag of thrifted ornaments found a couple of months ago. 

One movie I will watch over and over again is Die Hard. Christmas eve showings occur on an annual basis. 

Christmas trivia: What is the favorite Christmas seafood dish served in Paris? Oysters.

What I am listening to:

Recipe of the Day from the Antique American Cookbooks Home Cookery Ladies' Indispensable Companion:

Philadelphia Preserved Pineapple

Peel and slice the pineapple. Take equal quantities of fruit and sugar, first a layer of sugar, then of pineapple, of sugar and pineapple, till your jar is filled; then cover it with white brandy. Keep it tight from the air.