Monday, July 16, 2012

Angel Passing


 In Memory of Angel

2005 - 2012




Back at the end of June I wrote a post about the parakeets I was watching for my friends while they were on vacation. Click here to review it if you would like. As I had said in the post Angel had belonged to us for many years before going to her new home. But while Angel was staying with us I noticed her looking and acting ill and I took her to the birdie vet and he informed me that she had a tumor and wasn't for sure how long she would live. Her owners would not be back for another 2 weeks so we gave her lots of TLC and hoped that she would make it long enough to see her family again and go home with them. Well she did make it and went home with them but the next day our sweet little Angel, with white angelic wings, passed away.  She will be missed by many.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

My Latest Finds!

Hello everyone! Glad you came back for another visit!
How I love going around looking for treasures that catch my fancy to bring back to my house so I can try and make it look more Victorian! I don't always find stuff but when I do it is so exciting! Except for when I buy something, get it home and wonder why I even bought the thing! Do you all ever do that? Please don't tell me I'm the only one who does. *winks*
In the last couple of months I have found some things that make me happy and want to share them with you. Now remember, I did not buy these things all at the same time.
Below is an incomplete set of Johnson Brothers transfer ware ironstone dishes. The pattern is called Staffordshire Bouquet and it was made in 1978. I still need to find the sugar bowl and more of the same pieces in order to have 8 place settings. I bought these at a flea market in Kirksville, Mo.


This tea kettle was a $1 find at a garage sale. On the bottom is has "Old Country Roses" Royal Albert. I thought is was pretty and I only have teapots so I thought I "needed" a tea kettle.


Several weeks ago I went to an auction in a small historic Missouri town, at this beautiful 1870's Victorian. It was previously a B & B, so the house and the contents were up for auction.
It is called "Romancing the Past" B & B, so if interested in knowing more about it just google it and you'll find something on it.


Not a very clear photo, but you can see the beautiful burl walnut archway in the front hall.


This lovely brides veil shadow box is why I went to the auction. And here it is! I got it! Inside is a photo of the happy couple, the brides veil, and her headpiece which are orange blossoms. They were made by wadding up cotton and then dipping them in wax.


And here is where I put it...
You know how it is when you buy something and you really didn't have room for it so then you have to move things around to make it work? Well I had a 16 x 20 litho of Jesus and a lamb here so I moved Him into the dining room and took two game bird pictures down and sold them, along with some other stuff, and got enough money to pay for this shadow box and then some! Yay!


I also bought this reproduction parasol at the B & B auction. I just love those things. And since it's fairly new it won't fall apart like my antique ones!


Do you remember on my "For the Love of Birds" post I showed you the parakeets I was bird sitting? Well this is what the owners brought back for me from Spain. She knows me so well!


I got this small antique Victorian frame at a local Antique mall. The picture is kind of hard to see but it is of a lady painting a portrait of the young girl.


And here we go! You know me and my antique postcards! My mom and I went to a postcard show and sale a couple of weeks ago and I had a lot of self control! These were the only two cards I bought and I only spent one dollar! The one on the left is a shoe with beads all over it. I thought the beach one was so cute even though I don't know what "I can quite see through it now" means but I like the little note the beau wrote up above that in parenthesis, it says "Don't get mad at me for this"! Isn't that funny?


These two Christmas postcards I bought elsewhere. I love cherubs so I thought they needed to come home with me!


A few weeks ago I went with a friend to an Architectural Salvage place in Kansas City. It was a fun store to look in but very expensive. I didn't buy anything there but guess what just happened to be a block away?!
The K.C. Union Station! And guess what was at the Union Station?! The Titanic Exhibit! Now, if you'll remember from my "Remembering the Titanic" post, I had just bought repro 1st class dinner plates but the table looked boring with only those plates and I felt like I needed the "stacked look". So I bought these rimmed soup bowls! Now the table will look so much better! Ohhh! Can't wait til April!


Okay, moving right along here! Last week I bought this large frame at an antique mall. The opening is 20 1/4 x 24 1/4, big enough for a print that I have been wanting to get framed. (in an antique frame, that is)
I actually already have the print in the frame but want to post that later. So you all will just have to put on your "waiting shoes" for that one! He! He!


Finally, we're to the end of my finds! But...I just went to an antique auction this past Monday and found these neat things that made me happy so here they are! Toward the back is a velvet frame with a tintype of a baby in it, a hatpin holder, salt spoons, a matching porcelain brush and mirror and then, check out the runner thingy underneath all that! I just loved it and thought I had to have it and now I don't know where to put it! Anyone have any suggestions? I played around with it in the parlor/living room area and just couldn't come up with a place. So now I'm thinking maybe I need to make it into a pillow and put it on the antique sofa? (Scroll up to see the sofa) Any thoughts?


Looking at it closer you can see that the flowers are thistles. Aren't they neat? I thought they were really different.


So with that, I will end this post with this photo of a real thistle. I hope you enjoyed looking at my latest finds and I do hope you will join me again next week. Have a great weekend! (I'm off to another antique auction tomorrow!)


Monday, July 2, 2012

The Glorious Fourth

Aah, the Fourth of July! Wouldn't it be fun to go back in time and celebrate Independence Day the old-fashioned way? I say, let's do it!
We'll start our day by heading out to the annual Independence Day parade...


and then we'll grab our picnic hampers and head out to the park for the grand Fourth of July picnic...

                               (the above photo from the Spring 1995 Victorian Homes issue)

afterwards we'll have some homemade ice cream as we listen to the mayor give his speech and then we'll listen to the guest speaker.  Then we'll get in on some fun and games...the sack race, the barrel race, the three-legged race, the wheelbarrow race and/or tug-of-war! There's also a pie eating contest and $5 for anyone who can shinny up a greased pole and grab the flag!
After a full day of fun, it's time for the fireworks. As twilight gives way, showers of sparkling shooting stars, exploding into blackness along with the rockets' red glare as blue bombs burst in air! Isn't that a beautiful sight?



And now, let's talk about this "Uncle Sam" guy, who is he anyway?
I always thought of him as someone who just takes all of our money, like this...


but from reading "Victorian Family Celebrations" by Sarah Ban Breathnach I found out who he really was and here is the story:
After serving as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, Sam Wilson began a meat packing business in Troy, NY. Known for his honesty, common sense, and friendliness, everyone in Troy called him Uncle Sam. When the War of 1812 broke out, Sam Wilson became a sutler, or supplier, of meat to the Army. As the story goes, one day a reporter writing about the war efforts visited the Wilson Butchery. There he noticed that all the barrels of beef were stamped with the initials "U.S". When he inquired as to what the initials stood for, a clerk told him. "Why Uncle Sam, of course."
Very soon the story of the Army's "Uncle Sam" appeared  for the first time in newspaper political cartoons depicted as a young man. In the 1840's, a Victorian performer named Dan Rice made Uncle Sam larger than life by portraying him walking on stilts and giving him a Stars and Stripes costume. But the well known image of Uncle Sam with gray hair and a beard was created by the Victorian cartoonist Thomas Nast, who first drew him in 1869.
Below is a St. Pat's postcard of Uncle Sam.


And a little plant pick of Uncle Sam...


So now, after that little Uncle Sam tutorial *winks* I want to share with you a few verses from the song "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood...


And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.


And I'll gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.


I don't know about you guys but every time I hear that song it brings me to tears. Thank God that that flag still stands for freedom! From my house to yours, may you have a glorious Fourth!

I am joining the following parties...
PINK SATURDAY with Beverly at HOW SWEET THE SOUND
AMAZE ME MONDAY with Cindy at DWELLINGS
A RETURN TO LOVELINESS with Kathy at  A DELIGHTSOME LIFE
WHAT'S IT WEDNESDAY with Patti at IVY AND ELEPHANTS