Yesterday’s recycling efforts were thwarted when I packed up all the bags of trash, stuffed them in large contractor’s bags, loaded them in my car, along with a bin full of bottles and cans and cardboard, drove the five minutes or so to the Transfer Station, only to see the gates closed and a handwritten sign on brown cardboard shoved in the gate saying “Closed on 5/17.” No reason, no warning. I wasn’t happy.
I suppose Dan could have been sick or unable to come into work for some reason, but doesn’t the town have someone who can sub for him? The station is only open 3 days a week as it is.
The joys of living in a small town.
It was extremely hot and humid and I had to haul everything out of my car upon returning home and shove huge bags into the trash cans. Plus, my plans for mowing a bit before the rain came in the afternoon were curtailed when the rain came much earlier.
What to do? Clean the bathrooms, vacuum, do a load or two of laundry and play with my egg cups.
I started retrieving them from various shelves and cabinets, upstairs and downstairs.
I pulled a chair up to the cabinet.
I had to take into account the wood on the doors that blocked some of the cubbies.
I played and played. At times, I’d stop and look at everything and then I’d smile. Some of my larger egg cups won’t fit in the cubbies, so I’ll put them all together on one of the hanging shelves. But the vast majority them did fit and I can’t tell you how neat it is to see them all together in their new home.
This is what it looks like at the moment. That may change. You’ll notice there is a space waiting for Sleepy, if I ever find him.
Don is just as delighted as I am. Every time he passes the cabinet, he remarks on what a difference it makes in the cottage.
It does.
I think our cottage is full of a lot of wonderful things, but my favorites are those that have a sense of whimsy. These do. So do the Jumping Jacks hanging by the kitchen door and the signs and graphics and little charming knick knacks. I hope they say a lot about Don and me. I think they do.
By the way, reader Jay suggested it might have been hung on a wall with what is now the bottom being the top, etc. That makes sense to me as the writing above the cubbies would have been right side up that way. Perhaps a mail sorter for a little office or hotel? I like it the way it is because it works for our house. Clearly the dealer did, too.
I stopped by the post office yesterday and there was a package waiting for me from Dottie, a reader of this blog. She had written me to say she had something she wanted to send me.
Inside was the most exquisite little mug with a Shakespearean theme.
The design goes all the way around the cup. So beautiful! I will treasure this always, Dottie. Thank you so much!
Okay. I’m off to make a second cup of coffee and, hopefully, recycle and mow a bit – though it might storm today.
Happy Saturday.
The egg cups, altogether in that cabinet, are gorgeous! So glad it worked out for you!
Have a lovely weekend!
You, too, Debbie!
Very charming, Claudia. Will you be reorganizing now that you have empty spaces where the egg cups were?
Haven’t thought that far ahead. I just want to get some of the lawn taken care of before it rains!
I love seeing all the egg cups together like that. The cabinet is so perfect for them, for the cottage and for you and Don. I’m so glad you were able to get it. It’s raining here today but I’ll just continue a little house work, rearranging and cleaning. I need to make a stop at a thrift shop to donate, recycle some big boxes and maybe visit the Grands. Enjoy your Saturday!
It’s going to rain in about 30 minutes, so I’m going back out to mow a bit more and then I’m resting!!
what fun to see them all in place.
I wonder since you mentioned ‘hotel’ if it might have been used in a small old hotel for holding keys? just a thought! probably wrong!
but now it has a new home and it’s very pleased with where you put it. it’s happy!
have a wonderful ‘what’s left of the weekend!’ it’s a popcorn great old movie kind of weekend! xo
I don’t think so because many of the cubbies have just a letter of the alphabet marking them, so that seems more like mail.
Enjoy your weekend, Tammy!
That looks so nice. What a conversation piece!
I’m glad you didn’t pass that up.
Have a beautiful day:)
Monica
I am, too. Thank you so much, Monica!
What a pain with the recycling! We live in a small town, too (only 6000 people), but we do have curbside recycling along with our garbage pickup. We recycle so much that every week our huge bin is overflowing (it’s the same size as the garbage bin). Our next door neighbor lets us use his for our overflow.
The cabinet looks even more charming with the egg cups in it! Yes, the whimsy is wonderful. I’ve always loved Don’s jumping jack collection, too.
Well our town is only 3000 people! And it’s mostly country roads. There are people that pay a curbside service, and we considered that, but after calculating the price, we decided going to the transfer station was more economical.
I sort of like going to the ‘dump’ after all, I found the dollhouse there! It’s only when something like this happens that I get irritated and thankfully, that doesn’t happen very often!
At least you could salvage the day with egg cups! I live in a small town, too; people do what they want. We went to pay the storage rent on the 1st – – you’d think it would be their busiest day, collecting the rent money – – and, same thing, handwritten note on the door that they wouldn’t be back for 3 hrs. I was so mad because my husband was chauffeuring due to waiting on the driver’s-license-stuck-in-snail-mail-no-man’s-land (my license finally came today; gee, it only took 36 days to get it) and I didn’t know when we could get in to pay the rent again because my husband has work hours that don’t mesh with normal business hours.
There’s a lady in town who has one of the few remaining gift shops and I try hard to patronize her so that she can stay in business but, too often, I’ve arrived, ready to shop, and she’s not there but, in this case, I know what’s going on; she gets attacks of diverticulitis and has to sometimes go to the hospital, with no one to run the shop while she’s absentee, so I try to be understanding although, at the time, I can get frustrated.
Your long-time, loyal readers are really happy to share in your cubby find; the egg cups look wonderful in it. Can you not put several on the top of the cabinet on its flat shelf portion where you have the aqua-teal lamp? I was thinking, too, how perfect the lamp, so you can always see really well in that little space under the stairs. I see you many times pulling up a chair and just staring at the wonder of all those cups; I sure would be doing the same.
You are lucky that Don is always so amazingly supportive of anything you do although, of course, it’s vice versa (you two have the healthiest, most-loving, mutual-respect marriage!). I love my husband to the moon and back but he comes from a family where they can be sarcastic/mocking and irreverent; he defaults to that, and I’ll call him out on it (he doesn’t get away with that crap, with me, ever!) – – I don’t think there’s anything appealing about that type of personality – – but I’ve had it happen too many times when I’ve brought something home I’m wild about, only for him to say, “More junk.” It’s because we’re complete opposites and he’s a minimalist; I mean, an EXTREME minimalist (he won’t even keep half a closet of clothes), whereas I border on what I fear is near-hoarding because I’m such an avid collector with probably too many hobbies. I do get a lot of inspiration in looking at the interiors of your home and how you work hard to have all of your loved things/finds/keepsakes around you but in an organized way to where you can deal with it in a smaller home without it being over-stuffed. Clutter can grow so easily in a small house and you have to get really inventive to maximize every space. A lot of the old houses don’t have all the genius hacks the newer, smaller homes have…and sometimes it’s hard and expensive to try to update an old house with those newer space-saving ideas; believe me, we tried, when we had a home we were renovating which, at the time, was age 82.
I hope you and Don are having a good rest of Saturday. We had the first overcast morning in a really long time but, by now as we head toward our SoCalif noon, the sun is out and we’re steaming with what has become our typical humidity, at least for THIS summer (of all summers; yuck), low-80s which will rise as the afternoon approaches but, thankfully, for now, no 100s temps. I drove around this morning with the joy and freedom of finally being able to drive again (with my brand-spank’in-new license!) and I noticed such a profusion all over town of rusty-magenta crape myrtles growing like crazy, as well as abundant blue plumbago which so many people use as a natural fence. We lose the jacaranda but gain the plumbago; lucky! My maple is starting to lose its leaves in earnest, so I’m praying for early Fall…
First, so happy you got your license! Yay!
I was going to put some on top of the cabinet but Don mentioned that he loved the ‘clean line’ of that top shelf. So I decided not to. I understand what he means: We still want to see the lines of the steps heading upward and too much clutter will blur those. Does that make sense? And I have at least two vintage hanging shelves that I can put the larger egg cups on.
I am not a minimalist. Not even close! And, though I have to at times sort through everything and give some things away, the things I collect or that we have collected together are too important not to have on display. I just try to keep it under control.
Enjoy those crape myrtles and plumbago!
Okay, I’m mulling that; remembering that Don has that (photog) eye for perspective (do I even know what I mean by that?!). You do, too, of course, because you’re a photographer yourself, but sometimes it takes somebody else to see what you can’t when you’re in the thick of it, in your case the organizer/decorator. I did wonder, too, if you have any kind of vibration from going up and down the stairs, would ‘loose’ egg cups be in danger although you’d use more museum wax. So, will the hanging shelves of cups be too far away from the main cubby of cups now?
I can totally see now, what reader Jay was saying as you mentioned, that I betcha that cubby-cabinet was at one time reversed and indeed on a wall. I just remembered a repro piece I have, TONS smaller than yours, and it has the flat shelf on the top, two glass doors, then the flat wood piece underneath flush against the wall; that’s it, it’s like a mini-mini version of yours so, yes, you’ve got it on its other end now but, double joy, because it’s like a reversible coat to wear; choices! Are the cubbies deep enough to hold, for instance, a #10 envelope? Long story, but where my aunt lived off old Route 66 in rural Texas, there was an abandoned motor court and the lobby was the post office for this village-on-the-prairie; it had open mail boxes just like that (whereas mine, at my post office today, have locking doors for each cubby, for obvious reasons) but, again, tiny but deep to even hold a rolled up flyer or something. If they’re less deep, it could well have been for keys; otherwise a mystery, unless it was, as I think some of us have discussed, custom-built for someone’s specific collection. Maybe a hardware store, with each cubby being for a certain type of nail or screw or bolt but that doesn’t make sense, that you’d reach into a cubby and they’d be in there just loose, in which case a drawer would be more likely…hmmm…oh well, NEW LIFE, this time with adorable egg cups!
Can you even try to understand what it has been for me over the last few years to have my precious things in storage boxes and not all around me? I think you can. I curse this remodeling hell we’ve been in with two houses over a dozen years; how did we even let this happen? One of my friends talks of what fun discoveries (re-discoveries) I’ll have as we finally FINISH next year and I can at last get to my pretties (now I can’t WAIT for my husband to retire, so he can get to work on this!) but sometimes I feel like that day will never get here.
Most of the cubbies have a letter, like “N”. Some of them have a specific person’s name written in pencil. So it wasn’t for screws or nails. It was for messages or mail. Maybe phone messages taken by a receptionist? Maybe messages for people staying in a hotel? Maybe the specific names were for the owner, say, or a supervisor, or the manager.
My egg cups have always been scattered. Some in the bedroom, some in the office, some downstairs. It won’t bother me if some of them are not in the same room as the cubbies. Keeps things interesting.
As for having your things in storage boxes, by this time I would have said, “Enough!” and would have started unpacking them. Life’s too short. You don’t have to unpack them all, that may not be practical. But life’s too short not to have the things you love around you. We did have some of our favorite things locked away in storage when we rented for four years before we moved here. I hated it. The coffee table, the loveseat and a lot more were hidden from us for years. Anyway, those are just my thoughts. You have to do what’s right for you. xo
Echoing my thoughts exactly, Claudia.
It will be of utmost pleasure for me if by this time next year, I can show you some of my stuff, including the Roseville; I know, too, that you’ll be able to help me identify some of it. There’s a new revelation on that, which is my husband has said, just last week, that he wants to SELL the Roseville. (Although he’ll leave it up to me. Are you kidding; after what I paid all those years ago, to get it expertly restored, when the bulk of it was in broken pieces as received? The one gorgeous, large, deep-teal (aqua-blue/green; oh, what IS that indescribable color?!!) piece which, in another life, I’d give to you in a heartbeat, Claudia, is my favorite piece and NO WAY am I selling IT. I know what my husband is thinking; we’re definitely downsizing; we have no kids to pass anything on to; the rest of his family got other pieces [Granny had a sizable collection of Roseville] but, well, that is a HUGE decision and one I’m not about to make anytime soon. I bought a cabinet JUST to hold the Roseville and I haven’t even had a chance to use it yet in our current home. My husband’s sentimentality appears to have flown out the window. Definitely a thing to sit tight on and not rush, because he could change his mind and then have regrets. I have a feeling as we unwrap and see it again, he’ll feel differently.)
I’m getting really excited about putting my house together once and for all. It really keeps me going! You’ve given me a lot of good ideas, from how you do things at the cottage; I’ve picked up some other interesting tidbits from shelter mags (am subscribing to Country Living again, for one). I want Sept-Dec to be productive months in that journey; I’m going to need to be VERY organized and keep on a schedule with firm, weekly goals to keep me on track; then, come Jan., the major stuff to do (with more cleared space I will have made), pulling up old carpet, ditching ancient drapes, painting, new floors in the bathrooms (vinyl floor covering from the 1970s; ick); re-‘coating’ the fabulous pale-pink bathtub original to the home (so that I can sink into it again, with bubbles[!!]); refinishing the worn but nice kitchen cupboards (originals, from 1955); hiring a chimney sweep; long list (I could keep writing but won’t!)…a lot to do… but I can see some light at the end of that tunnel. I’m prepared to cut some corners in order to save money and GET DONE; wasn’t so willing to do that on the last house, our little cottage on the hill, but she was a real beaut and deserved the best we could muster (this current mid-century house, not so much; I just want what’s practical although I’m gonna do whatever I can to protect and keep the pale pink and dark burgundy tile in the shower stall, also original; when I was a kid, the tub room was all pink…toilet, sink AND tub; quintessential 50s!…and I’m keeping most of the original light fixtures in the ceiling of every room because I luv ’em; really pretty etched glass for some/pressed glass for others; nothing special or fancy or luxe, isn’t a custom home, but that stuff is from my childhood and I’m VERY sentimental about my childhood these days…).
I love your ideas of what the new egg cup cupboard might have been used for! It’s what I love about vintage, often trying to figure out what people of another decade were thinking and doing with certain things. We were often scratching our heads over this when working on that other small but well-appointed bungalow. Like, what is this small door for in the wall? Well, the ice man would come and change out the block of ice in some sort of custom refrigerator they had in the kitchen, which was updated in about 1928. Some sort of weird invention a historian I’d asked to come over couldn’t even figure out at first. Why does the side door in the kitchen have a buzzer? For deliveries, when you bought goods and food fresh from a peddler/traveling salesman. (Told to go ’round the side and not disturb the master or mistress of the home at the front entrance.) The cupboard next to that side kitchen door? Where the milkman left the milk bottles out of the sun. What are these panels on opposite walls in the tiny bump-out kitchen ‘annex’? Well, open them up and pull down a bench from where it ‘lives’ inside the wall; space saver so you could put a small table in there and then have seating for the maid, cook, gardener at mealtimes…yet, when the seats are folded back into the wall, more space to walk around in to get to the pantry shelves where the potatoes, onions, root veggies, garlic were kept, an ingenious (they thought of everything!!) grouping of shelves with mesh that were kept cool from recirculated cold air from the cellar underneath the house. We of course knew what the heavy metal-lined kitchen drawers were for & why.
I was watching ‘The Seven-Year Itch’ last night on PBS (Marilyn Monroe; mid-1950s?) and I was looking around at the male character’s office. No machinery in it at all; just a manual typewriter on a table off to the side. Looked like a fountain pen set on the desktop. Love to look at the ‘props’ in these old films. Also caught part of an old b&w movie (you would have been proud of me; I’m trying!!) with Clark Gable and was it Jean Harlow? Oh, the sumptuous cut of the clothes; the hats; these movies from the 30s (I think this one was “Saratoga”).
Anyway, I know your house is even much older, and I love how you come upon, from time to time, the little yard surprises such as shards of old china. “If these walls could talk…”
No!!!! Don’t sell! Hopefully, he’ll change his mind when he sees the pieces. Otherwise, tell him you have cabinet specially for those pieces and they will look beautiful there!
So looking forward to hearing about all the changes in the house once they start happening. Glad you’re keeping that tile. I lived in two places with tile like that and I treasured the gorgeous original tile. I wish this house had that kind of thing. A milk chute! We had one at my childhood house. The milkman would deliver milk and put it in the chute. Mom would open up the chute from the inside of the house and put it in the refrigerator. For many years, the milk chute was the means of access if we got locked out. One of us kids would go in the chute head first and go unlock the door.
What have I missed about Sleepy? Have I forgotten? How is he lost? Or do you mean that’s the one egg cup of that series that you’re missing? (Yet to buy?)
The one egg cup that I haven’t been able to buy yet. I have never seen it up for auction. It remains the elusive dwarf.
I promise I will be on the forever-lookout for Sleepy for you! I wanted to ask again, you only want vintage egg cups right? No repros?
No reproductions. I’m a vintage girl!
Good comment from Donnamae; if you could get a wide shot so we could see how the egg cup cabinet looks from the other side of the room. I’m thinking it must look terrific. A real conversation piece. I agree also that the egg cups look bright and well-defined in their new home so that, amazingly, you don’t really need to paint the inside of the cubbies unless it just becomes personal preference. Maybe it’s because the egg cups are mostly light-colored which shows up well against the darker wood of the cubbies.
Have you taken a tablet to write down the incredible finds you’ve made over even the past six months, Claudia?!! Gosh, the trashed doll house (what a rescue!), the darling (absolutely precious) children’s bookcase you’ve got upstairs, the metal bistro set which created a whole new garden space for you, the child’s chair with the fleur de lis; just ticking that stuff off, off the top of my head. I’ve enjoyed seeing ALL of it!
Yes, I am relieved that I don’t have to paint those cubbies! It would drive me insane. Heck, I haven’t even painted the last wall in the kitchen yet!
Add to that list of yours, the antique English and French pots, the rusty wire plant holder on the porch, the Please Put Book Back After Using piece…I’m sure there’s more!
Claudia, That cabinet was absolutely made for you. I love the egg cups in it. Your collection is getting to be a true treasure. Don’t you love when it all comes together. Hope you find the lost Sleepy cup. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
Thank you, Susie! It’s not ‘lost’ but it is definitely hard, if not impossible, to find!
The egg cups look great in the cabinet. Enjoy.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn. The cabinet and the egg cups were definitely made for each other!
We have been living in our home for almost 17 years. We made the decision when we moved in that we would save the $10 /mo. and carry trash and recycling to the dump ourselves. It was never a problem. Now, my husband is not able to do it any longer with me and I recently signed up for the service that is still only $15 /mo. I feel quite silly sometimes how much I love this service and how much I enjoy filling up the recycling bin and trash can and putting out yard trash. I am almost giddy with happiness when garbage day comes. Small things can mean a lot.
I don’t blame you! Good for you, Beverly! Maybe someday we’ll do the same.
If you didn’t know differently…you’d think that cabinet was made for the space. Looks fantastic, especially all loaded up! I’m quite surprised how well your egg cups show up! Even behind the glass. I think you mentioned maybe painting the cubbies? But…I don’t think they would need to be painted, do you?
I was wondering if you could take a photo from farther away, so that we can see the cabinet placement in relation to the rest of your place? Enjoy the rest of your day! ;)
I will do that. Preferably on a sunny day when I can get a good picture.
No, I am relieved to see that they don’t need to be painted! That would be a lot of tedious work.
bummer about not getting to off-load things at your transfer station today (you tried)! is there a phone number you could call, before making the trip, to confirm they’ll be open?
love how the egg cups look in your prized and perfect cupboard! that was sure meant for you and don!
hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend.
kathy in iowa
No, the transfer station mess was yesterday. Today, it was open, thank goodness! I’m on an email list with the town. They should have emailed all of us. I found out that it, along with the town offices was closed because of the funeral of a longtime member of one of the ‘ruling families’ here. She was a nice lady – I only met her once – but to close the whole town down when the residents need access to services?
I’m shaking my head.
by your photos and words, i can tell your home is full of charming and whimsical things … as well as two people who obviously have many interests and talents, who value authenticity and uniqueness and who delight in, take care of and are grateful for things. well done! :)
kathy in iowa
Thank you so much for your kind words, Kathy!
Wonderful little mug Dottie!…I am going browsing tomorrow at our local antique mall to get a day out of the house…Sleepy will be at the top of my list of things to look for…I do know what your collections and whimsical things say about you and Don…they say you are my kind of people!….
Have fun looking at antiques, Nancy!
So glad you got that cabinet. You would have regretted it forever, it is truly one of a kind and makes a wonderful, unexpected showcase for the eggcups. Some years back, my husband I were driving home from the airport and we passed a house which had a lovely white wicker desk out by the “curb” (no real curbs on a country road). I love white wicker! I begged him to stop, the price was right, it was in good condition. But my husband was unwilling to try to attach it to our car (a Honda prelude). Obviously I still think of that desk. I love how you and Don work in harmony to decorate your nest. I had no idea how extensive your collection is! As usual, you’ve staged them to perfection.
Of course you still think of that desk! I’m so sorry you missed out on it.
I’m very lucky that Don is as invested in the look of our home as I am. He’s got a great eye and often sees things that I don’t.
Thank you, Nora!
TA DA!!! That cabinet was meant for those egg cups! Love it love it. Oh… and totally love that little mug! I would love to find one like that for my step-son, who has acted in local theaters doing Shakespeare! And I am a vintage girl too!!!
Dawn P.
Good for you! And bravo to your stepson. Love hearing about actors doing Shakespeare!