wordless Wednesday

welcome home

In my weekly quest for the color red, lo and behold, I found some right under my nose. Since we moved to a larger place last September I've been able to unearth all things collectible I've squirreled away for the day when I would have more room. This wishful thinking, combined with a new--at least to me--interest in chickens [see my story about Buddy here] has filled up this 'chicken coop.' There's also room for some of the creamers I have collected as well as vintage crocheted kitchen items and odds 'n ends in some of my favorite colors.

This little nook of red always makes me smile. . .for more smiles, visit Ruby Tuesday.

Ruby Tuesday, or why I love 'Old Man River'

Last weekend we rode our motorcycle along the Mississippi River on the Iowa side as far as Dubuque, stopping in this little town called Guttenberg. The red house above actually sits square on the lot, but me, not so much on the bike. Note the wash hanging on the line.

This is the kind of red I am fond of: a bit more primitive. This building sits right on the Mississippi and was an old warehouse in the mid 1800's but now is divided into little shops. We ate at the Picket Fence Cafe where I hooked a lovely pink glass creamer for my collection. I've not spent much time in Iowa before but was agog at all the many miles of corn fields, the wholesome looking, friendly people and roadside produce stands galore. More photos to come. . .in the meantime, visit Mary @ Ruby Tuesday.

for a song

If you know me you know that in my world blue is a good thing. Lately I've been remiss in posting additions to my pitcher collection from my travels and especially since I've adopted some delightful blue ones. The top left solid blue pitcher matches a 1950's stoneware coffee pot I have [50 cents] and two matching cups I bought for a quarter each at a yard sale. Then there's a unique antique milk glass pitcher I found during my milk glass craze [its over now, or at least until I laid eyes on the pink variety. . .] bottom right from another antique shop coveted because of the blue cornflowers. Bottom left my latest prize in my favorite turquoise color, made in Japan and nabbed for 60 cents at a thrift store.Speaking of blue, I retrieved this photo I took in Chicago of the most charming cat who would laze on a garden fence and pose for me whenever I walked by on my way home each day. I have yet to see such blue eyes on a cat like this guy had. He makes his debut on Misty Dawn's meme, Camera Critters this weekend.

And my gift to you as we celebrate the coming weekend; give him a listen!

Fave Things for Thursday

Thursday arrives and with it comes Favorite Things Thursday, my friend Blue's meme. (Time seems to fly for me in the autumn). I know I'm in good company when I saw that I am an \in-ˈve-t(ə-)rət\ yard sale shopper. Around here they are referred to as garage sales or just simply 'sale.' Either way, my car seems to detect their signs several yards ahead and all I have to do is make the turn. Usually I don't have much cash with me but what there is ready to burn a hole in my pocket by week's end. Also indigenous to Minnesota are sales sometimes on Wednesday and Thursday as well as the weekend. So the fun begins, and today was no exception. Sometimes I only come away with a $.50 paperback I've wanted to read, a bag of apples or tomatoes. These are a few of my finds recently. The blue sugar & creamer set was being sold by a lady in her sixties who was cleaning out her cupboards and I was happy to give them a good home. They are blue, after all! On a walk to the post office I bought the green watering can for a song because of its lovely shape and a frog and dragonflies embossed on its front. The plate was a find on one of our motorcycle jaunts at a thrift store. These state plates are ubiquitous, I know, but I've never found one from my home state of Idaho. It has Mountain Bluebird and Syringa patterns. If you can enlarge this photo you will better see the cat in this framed print I bought today for $1. It is a rather haphazardly mounted page from a railroad calendar and the lady who sold it said she remembered these calendar prints from her youth many years before. It is marked Peake - Chessie for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Here's what I learned about 'Peake':

In 1934, the first "Chessie" calendar was produced, with 40,000 copies distributed. Advertisements featuring Chessie appeared in most national magazines as well. Her popularity grew, as did her family. She got two look-alike kittens in 1935, and a mate, "Peake" (from the railroad name as well - Chesapeake = "Chessie-Peake"), in 1937. Soon Chessie, "America's Sleepheart," was the talk of the railroad world, and propelled C&O to the top ranks of rail advertising. You can read more about Chessie here.

I feel very fortunate to have seen this in a box of frames. Maybe Chessie was waiting for me?
Visit the amazing Blue for more bloggers' favorite things. She might inspire you to play along too!

Two lumps of sugar and pass the cream if you will

Another Thursday dawns and that means playing Blue's Favourite Things Thursday--when I search through the cobwebs of my mind for those illusive dreams and things that make me happy. This week its a collection of small pitchers/creamers like these:



which I pick up randomly at thrift stores, yard sales and occasionally a real antique shop if the price is within my 'pitcher' budget. I've collected these in the 1-1/2 years I've lived in the Twin Cities. However, safely packed away in storage is a box full of over 30 years of collecting. Someday they'll be rescued from bubble wrap and properly displayed.

After many years of no contact with my mother and father -- long story -- after we were reacquainted, when I showed my mom my burgeoning collection she, being who she was, ran out and bought me not only a pitcher but the accompanying sugar bowl, coffee pot, demitasse cups and saucers in a gold rimmed, porcelain flower pattern, made in Bavaria! Being of Bavarian extraction, she had a remarkable eye for beautiful porcelain combined with a champagne appetite on a beer salary. She was thoroughly convinced her love of beautiful things was her German-ness.

I have pewter, Irish pottery, English glass and cranberry glass pitchers from Massachusetts plus recycled gems from yard sales in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Chicago--just about everywhere I've lived. Gifted pitchers are the best because it means I'm well known by the giver. I've noticed too that I usually wind up selecting my favorite colors without fully intending to.

Most recently the porcelain pitcher with pink roses on the far right below was purchased at a garage sale from an older lady who was liquidating. She said it was her favorite and she'd given it many uses. I got it for a song.



Yup, when I turned it over, the bottom was marked. . . Bavaria.

Visit Blue to see more favourite things of hers and her friends or you might even want to play along.