You know what I love?

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I love Mason Jars. In particular the blue ones, but on a broader level, I just love mason jars. I love the itty bitty tiny jelly jars to the long and tall jars that might be a vessel for someone's garden's year end giardiniera. I love the pint and quarts with the wide and narrow mouths. Our first set of Flour/Sugar/Coffee/Tea canisters were a set of Blue mason jars. I still have them and use them regularly. Right now they're getting ready to house cold brewed coffee when I put it together later on tonite for it to steep overnight. I love putting tea light candles in the little guys and putting them on a picnic table or around the patio to make little glimpses of soft light during a summer evening.

One of my favorite memories was of having walking pneumonia (no, that's not the favorite part - I'm getting there) and my grandma sending me home with a quart jar full of homemade chicken and noodles. Nothing tasted better than cracking that lid open and putting the ring and lid aside, grabbing a spoon, and helping myself to some of her special cooking. I can still taste it on my tongue.

Another memory I have is walking into my grandparents basement and seeing the shelves full of these jars. The damp musty smell would greet you before you walked down the wooden steps and as you turned the corner - as the basement was divided into two sections - the room would open up to floor to ceiling rough wood shelving. And there were literally hundreds of jars on those shelves. My grandmother used to have a large garden when they had lived out on the acreage and would can everything. Since moving to town she had less use for them but couldn't give them away. I remember when Kenny and I got on a canning kick after my granny had passed away, Grandpa had mentioned all those jars that were auctioned off and had wished he had saved them for us. Bless his heart.

In our built in china hutch in the kitchen, there is a whole shelf full of jars of varying colours and sizes. And every year when we go to can in the winter time, I love opening up the door and finding all these little vessels waiting to be filled with homemade goodness.

We have a full set of pint glasses with wide mouths that we use for drinking glasses. Nothing too fancy for the Fleming household. But, with children of all ages, they're sturdy and durable.

There are many uses for these little guys. But, I definitely enjoy using these little blasts from the past.