Another Great Barn-Sale Find!

This will be handy!

I've been wanting one of these for awhile.  I love that it was still in its original box!

Thanks, barn sale. :)

~Bessie

Percolatin'

Have you ever made coffee in a percolator?   I must confess, I am something of a coffee snob (yes, I worked at Starbucks for awhile and have a thing for French presses).   In my humble opinion, coffee is at its best when It is smooth and black and bursting with flavor—no cream or sugar to lighten things up for me.  For awhile my preferred method of brewing was the French press, but now I use my percolator almost exclusively.  Why?  Well…

First of all, I love the way an old-fashioned percolator looks.  Mine is from the 60’s, as is apparent from its design.  My mom laughed when I first made her coffee in it--she told me her mother had one just like it and used it to make coffee every morning. J

Secondly, a percolator—in my experience—makes excellent coffee.  Quite possibly the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.  Oh goodness, it’s yummy!  Don’t get me wrong—I still enjoy and appreciate a nice French press.  But coffee in a percolator is a little lighter--no quick so thick and heavy.  

After doing some research on percolating, I realized that most coffee experts and snobs (remember, I am a coffee snob too) very much disagree with my high estimation of the percolator (see here and here for example).  I can understand the reasoning behind this—the water gets hotter than is desirable (when brewing coffee, the water should not get hot enough to boil), which causes it to extract too much acidity from the grounds.  This creates a coffee that is bitter and unpleasant to drink.  Or at least that’s what they say.  However, like I mentioned above, I have had only good experiences with my percolator and intend to go right on enjoying it. J

 What's your favorite method of brewing coffee?

~Bessie

Treasure

Davis and I went to see our friend at the barn sale last weekend.  We scrounged around a bit, and found some sturdy old tools and an awesome old galvanized steel washtub.  I asked the owner if he ever comes across sewing patterns, and he told me that he does from time to time, but that his sister (who quilts and sews) usually snatches them up.  He said he'd call me next time he found any.

We looked for a little while longer, and I happened to spy a dusty brown shoe box sitting on one of the tool shelves that was tied up with a brittle strip of cloth.  This was intriguing--I walked over and untied it, eager to see what was inside.  The box was filled with rolls of antique newspaper, tied up with antique strips of cloth similar to the one that tied the box shut.  The cloth ties were all different prints -- much older than feedsack.  The newspaper clippings, I noticed at first glance, looked to be from the early twentieth century.  I didn't need to know anything else--I bought the box for something like $3, excited as can be.  Old newspapers are so fascinating.

Once we loaded up our booty and got in the car to leave, I opened up my treasure box and untied one of the newspaper bundles.  What was this?  The first piece I unrolled was cut into the shape of...a sewing pattern piece!  A collar or facing, to be exact.  Oh my goodness -- this was a box full of patterns! You can imagine my joy. :D

Below are some pictures of one of the best finds I have ever found.  Enjoy!

This is the only bundle that dates back to the '40's.  Check out this girl's playing card bathing suit!

More to come soon about wedding/house! :D

~Bessie