Antique Finds ~

 

I did not expect to bring any antiques home from California, but found a few special treasures at prices I was willing to pay :)

 

It is so hard to get a picture without the glare of the glass.  The reflection to the bottom right is my arms and camera.  Though faded, about 80% of the sampler is in pretty good shape.  The bottom not so much, but for the price, I could not pass her up.

 

I am not wild about how it is framed, but you can see that it has been in this frame for a long time.

 

Circa 1860-1870 English toothpaste pot.  The first one in my small collection that is colored.  Quite a few chips but I am no purist.  It's sitting on a piece of French linen also purchased in California.

 

Some of you may remember my obsession with stone fruit.  You can read about it here.  I haven't added to my collection in a few years, but was so excited to find the half peach and half apple.  I never thought I'd ever own any half fruit.  I thought it was a good deal, but not as good as the deal Julie got in Arizona a couple years back.  (Almost free at a thrift store!)

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Back to Normal ~

The house is about 99% put back together.  I LOVE my Christmas decorations, but it is always good to get back to my "normal".  I've made countless trips to the attic. In the past week I climbed 387 floors!  

I had a dye day on Friday.  Of course, my usual Emma Lou's putty (old) . . . 

. . . plus toned down some wool with seal brown.  (I use Cushing dyes.)  I should have taken before pictures.  The blue wool (top two) was very garish and not something I would ever use!  It's much prettier in person.

I tried dyeing red for the first time ever.  Used a recipe in a dye book by Nancy Raybould.  I added the required amount of dye and wasn't getting great results so added another half dose.  After I had glugged with vinegar and set the color, it still wasn't what I was hoping for.  I started over with another full dose and here are the results. It is a little more pink in color than red, but I think it's a color I can use at some point.

Christmas is all put away except for the tinsel tree.  I think I am going to try to make it a Valentine tree.  I will keep you posted. 

There is so much I put away to make room for the Christmas decorations.  Inevitably, there are things I cannot find.  I knew I was missing a bowl of stone fruit.  I searched and searched and it was nowhere to be found.  Finally I decided to look under the spare bed.  Guess what?  Not one, but two bowls of stone fruit.  Isn't that where you stash yours?  

I put all my feather edge in the same cupboard, so how can I be missing one piece?  It's a gravy boat from a child's dish set.  I am tired of looking for it and I suppose (and hope) that some day it will turn up.

We have had a frigid week, but not nearly as cold as some of you.  Thankfully we are having a heat wave this week and Thursday's high is predicted to be 50*.  I'm sure there will be some crazies running around in shorts and flip flops :)

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Vacation Goodes ~

I can't believe it's taken me almost a week to take pictures of the goodies that came home with me.  Even though I no longer have a day job (woo hoo), there still aren't enough hours in the day.

 

The best thing that came home with me is my pincushion from Julie.  If you've ever been fortunate enough to acquire a piece of her work, you know it is perfection.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Julie.  It will reside in my hooking room where I spend most of my free time and can admire it daily.

 

I love pressed glass goblets.  A good ballpark date on them is the 1860's - 1880's.  They were made with a 3 part mold and you can see the mold marks on the bottom (but not in the picture).  I have way too many, but I use them for everyday wine glasses.  How could I pass them up for fifty cents each?

Giant stone fruit grapes on a white ironstone plate marked Meakin that I also bought.

Another spice cabinet that I needed like I need another hole in the head, but hey, it was a REALLY good deal, even though not as old as my others.  You can read about the others here.  Not sure where I can fit this in.  A terrible problem to have :)  Stoneware salt to add to my collection which now numbers four and the first with a lid.  Shouldn't things always be an odd number?  May have to find one more . . . lol!  OOPS!  My other 3 are stoneware butters.  This is my first salt.  The start of a new collection :)

I was so happy to find these paper mache turkeys at Greenwood Mercantile in Greenwood, MO.  The one in the center is a candy container marked US Zone Germany and the others are marked Germany.  My flock is growing and will come down from the attic next week.

 

 

Sweet little pin cube and decorative scissors that are really sharp, sitting on a piece of vintage velvet ~ also from Julie.

I have no idea what I will do with this (most likely tuck it in a drawer), but another one of those bargains ($1.00) that I just could not leave behind, dated 1948.

I also got a black darner and some silverplate spoons.  I gathered many rocks from the places we stopped and gave them to my grandson and he loved them.  Also brought home a branch with several large pinecones attached (thinking about the "C" season) and this . . .

Both my son and DSO gave me "the look" when I picked this up in the desert near an abandoned  mine my son was showing us.  Disbelief when I said I was going to take it home :)  Well, a few days later in an antique shop they had some nearly identical rusty springs just a bit bigger and they were asking $55.00 for them.  I have no idea if I will take it apart to use the springs or figure out some other use for it . . . or it just may end up in the garage with lots of other useless stuff (like the large broken insulator that also came home with me).

 

Thank you so much for following us on our travels and for all the sweet comments and emails.  Though blogging seems to be dying, you all make it worthwhile and for that I thank you :)

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Spice Cupboards ~

A few of you commented about my spice cupboard shown in the previous post.

I also have a "thing" about spice cupboards.  This one sits on the same cupboard as the one above.  It has a somewhat thick coat of reddish paint that was added later in its life.

These three sit atop the pie safe in the dining room.

The one on the left is my favorite 8 drawer cupboard.  It has such a beautiful patina.  I just love those little antique pugs.

At the base of the stairs leading to the second story sits this sweet little four drawer spice cupboard.  I purchased it many years ago on eBay.  Miniature stone fruit sits in front.

Atop this most wonderful hanging cupboard sits a six drawer spice cupboard. 

Beautiful hanging pocket

A gift from oh-so-generous Melinda

of Merry Wind Farm

This is my all time favorite.  I think this is the first one ever purchased.  I wish I could remember from where . . . sigh.  I'm guessing it was from a show.  Hopefully I have it written down . . . somewhere :)

Happy Saturday to you.
Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Bowls & Trenchers ~

Monday, Julie of  My Primitive Heart,  posted about her love affair with wooden bowls and trenchers.  I have a "thing" about them, too.

On the upstairs landing ~ filled with stone fruit.

The sweetest child's size trencher with a wonderful old repair, filled with dried black walnuts and Cutie oranges that didn't get eaten in a timely manner.  Some dry nice and round and other shrivel up.

In the dining room filled with more stone fruit . . .

. . . and on the dining room table.  I'm a little stone fruit obsessed :)

And still more stone fruit.  I see I need to dust my grapes . . . lol!

Trencher on the coffee table ~

Sweet little shoes ~

NOTHING compared to Julie's trencher filled with her strawberry creations :)

On the stove.  I think I need to dust there, too.

I have more bowls and a trencher or two tucked away in an antique cupboard bottom.  They are just fun to decorate with and unless you are buying early ones with old paint, they can be found very reasonably priced.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Is Blogging Becoming Passe?

 

Welcome friends.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  Is it just me or is blogging falling by the wayside to Facebook?  I know it slows down in the summer, but my daily views and comments are WAY down.  Or is it just me . . . lol?  I have been getting on Facebook more often, but there is so much to scroll through that I know I miss tons of stuff, not to mention all the feeds (is that what they are called?) that I have no idea how or why I'm getting them.  I am still Facebook stupid.  Blogging just seems so much more personal to me.  Does anyone else feel that way?

 

Can you believe this is post #800 for me?  I know I can't.  My first post was on May 31, 2009.  You can read it here.  I knew this was coming but it still snuck up on me.  I'll have a give-away after I get back from vacation so stay tuned. 

 

I added a couple pieces of white ironstone to my small but growing collection.  This is a soap dish, complete with insert. 

 

I also got this covered dish.  The cup was another purchase.  I don't think it's flow blue, but not sure what it is.  It is heavily damaged, but for $.50 I couldn't pass it up.

Here are all the pieces I have collected so far.

I also got this great table runner made from an old coverlet.  The colors are different than any coverlet colors I have seen.

It looks great with a bowl of stone fruit, though I think I need to trade it out for a bigger bowl.  I LOVE stone fruit.  It's one of my favorite collections.  You can see more of it here.

 

 

Another weekend bites the dust.  How can it be August?  So many people are thinking fall and pumpkins.  NOT ME!!! 

 

Pug hugs :)
Lauren

Another Hump Day ~

Oh, the weeks are just flying by.  Already past the mid-point of July.  How did we get here already? It was another hot one on the north coast.  I am so thankful I work in an air conditioned office and now have A/C that works both in the house and the car.

Took grandson Jake swimming today.  Well, he swam, I did not.  Still haven't gotten the nerve up to look for the bathing suit and actually try it on. He had a ball.  His back flips off the side of the pool make me too nervous so I made him stop.  I tried to catch him mid-air but could not.

My new old cupboard top.  Not wild about it but it's a start.  My collection of ironstone is pretty pathetic . . . I guess I'll need to do something about that and I don't care much for the coverlets either.  A very small part of my stone fruit collection is on the third shelf next to a piece of Peaseware.

The large sampler was a gift from a former college roommate, many years ago.  She and I have not seen each other in 20 years and are planning to get together soon.  Stitched in 1984, it hung over my bed until recently when I replaced it with my Magdalena hooked rug.

Part of my collection of treenware ~ one of my favorite collections, picked up one or two pieces at a time.

Tomorrow evening is hooking with Katie at the Chairmaker in Vermilion.  My next hooking project is not ready for the frame, so I'd better go draw a pumpkin on linen so I have something to work in.  I'm not ready for fall ~ just a pumpkin is a no brainer to draw.

There's a relatively new blog in town.  If you are a mom to a son or two, or just need a laugh, stop over at Janice's blog, the Rug Hooking Store.  I'm sure she will appreciate the visit.  Stop by her website and take a peak in the the rug gallery.  I left with a serious case of rug envy!

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pug hugs :)
Lauren