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Around the House

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Because the last post like this one got such a positive response, here is another edition of Around the House, as seen yesterday.

4-9 Short

Because neither of us is.

Short, I mean.

4-9 parakeet lamp

Because all lamps should include parakeets.

4-9 impatiens

Because it’s almost time to move the impatiens to the porch.

4-9 Scoutie

Because she likes to catch some zzz’s.

4-9 lamp

Because I love the lines of this lamp.

And the perfect glass shade that I searched for and finally found.

4-9 whitelamp

Because this lamp is cool and has a cloth-covered cord.

4-9 books

Because I love books and pottery.

And before you ask, no, I only did a book of the first year of the blog.

4-9 currier&ives

Because this is an original Currier & Ives print/lithograph.

Very old, very fragile. Found at auction many years ago.

4-9 earbuds

Because earbuds must always be at the ready.

As well as pens, pencils, nail file, scissors and crochet hooks.

I have a quick question for you. I collect McCoy Pottery, as you no doubt have realized by now. Would you be at all interested in a short series of posts about those pieces, like the series I did about the egg cup collection? I did one many years ago, but I have a nicer camera now and many of you are newish readers. It might be fun.

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Comments

  2. I would like very much to read some posts about your McCoy. I’m not familiar with it and would like to know more.

    May we see the cover of “your” book one day? I would like to know how it came into being.

    • Yes. It’s not very exciting. I did it through Blurb.com – which will make your blog posts into a book. But it doesn’t work with WordPress, which is what I use now. And I post every day so, a book a year was getting too expensive!

  3. Been reading your blog for several months. Really enjoyed your series about your playlists. I have the same McCoy piece only in blue.

    • I think I have to do a couple more playlist posts, Gail. Thanks for reminding me!

  5. Would love to see your McCoy! Woody keeps buying those bridge lamps (other old floor lamps too) and I would like to know did the thing that Woody calls a fitter (the thing that holds the shade and bulb ) come with the lamp? Does it use one of those large base bulbs or a regular base bulb? Ours are all different. We spent a few hours at an antique lamp dealer yesterday getting old parts for a different lamp. I don’t know if it was a good idea to have a basement or not. We have a lot of those….”We will rewire those soon” projects hanging around but don’t you just fall in love with them? I think it is a weakness that Woody and I share. Thanks for sharing our old picture. Made me smile!
    Eileen

    • I wish we had a basement, Eileen! That’s the one thing I wanted (and an attic) and didn’t get when we bought this house. We do have a shed, though.

      The lamp: the fitter came with the lamp (and thank Woody for supplying the name for that part!)
      Just a regular bulb.

      I have several rewiring projects to do. Some, I’m wary about attempting on my own, so I have to find someone to do it.

      I loved that old picture. I have another one that I’ll send your way soon. Again…at the lake. Great memories. xoxo

  6. Yes, please share your McCoy collection with us. I love the colors, patterns and stories behind each piece you show us.
    Just a side note….have you ever thought of putting an addition on your dollhouse ? Perhaps a solarium with multipaned windows, tile floors, large potted plants, wicker furniture and of course books for reading.
    Vanessa

    • I have, but I don’t have a big enough table that would allow me to display it. Maybe some day!

  8. Claudia, does the old expression, “the real McCoy” have anything to do with the pottery?

    • No, it doesn’t. If you look it up in Wikipedia, it’s been attributed to a variety of sources.

  9. It is definitely all about the details in your home. I love it. I would be interested in a photo tour of your McCoy pottery and history. Sounds like fun.

  10. YES! Would love to see a detailed post about your McCoy! I LOVE McCoy Pottery and I think we may have some identical pieces – although perhaps in a different color. Never can have enough McCoy! I also enjoy seeing how you creatively use your pieces …. always make me think I can do that too!

  12. Hi Claudia, I really like to read your blog,I am a faithful reader! Having said that,What in the heck does the rest of the “Short” sign say? :-) Thank You, Judy A-

  13. Love the photos! Yes to a series on McCoy pottery. I’ve learned so much just from your regular posts and would love to learn more. I only have a few pieces of McCoy but love them. The parakeet lamp is a favorite of mine, just whimsical and I do love whimsical!
    hugs,
    Linda

    • I know – it IS whimsical. And sweet! I know you are just like me, Linda, a fan of all things whimsical.

  14. Would love the McCoy tour! Also some day would you tell us about the pull “toy” collection (I don’t remember what they are called) that Don has? I think you touched on them as a collection, but not individually. That would be fun, too. Love seeing the daily snippets.

      • Can you TELL I woke up w/ a horrendous head cold this morning? My eyes are burning and I feel like I am in a fog… hence not being able to come up with “jumping jacks”. Yeah, time for a nap, I guess! ugh.

  15. Oh yes please to the McCoy tour! I always love hearing the hows and whys of a collection…the more stories the better! ;)

  16. You could photograph your home every day and still would not capture all within! Thank you for generously sharing your life with us. A tour of your McCoy pottery would be welcome. I don’t know anything about pottery so it will be an education for me.

  18. I always enjoy your around the house posts. It looks so nice and cozy and it really is, “all in the details.” Posts about your pottery would be lovely.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

  19. Like others, I say YES to a McCoy series. I not only enjoy your collected “whatever”, but especially your back stories!

    • I hope I can remember the back stories for the McCoy – some have them, some don’t.

  20. Yes to the McCoy series. I look back over your pictures all the time (and drool). And yes to the Jumping Jacks too.

  21. Short answer to your question – Yes Please! PS – are you getting any sun at your house right now? We were scheduled for rain, so I’m pleasantly surprised – and somewhat wary – by the current sunshine. Maybe the rain is just coming later… Enjoy your day :>)

    • No to the sun. Damp, cold, not raining at the moment, but the last two days have been full of rain. Tomorrow is supposed to be much nicer….. it’s a good thing because Don and I are glum in the face of this weather.

  22. Yes to the McCoy series! I have the aqua version of the little square pink planter in one of your photos. I found it in a pile of debris in my grandparents storage shed. I have a few other pieces, too. One of the things I inherited from my Grandmother is a lovely rose colored lamp that looks so McCoy, but it’s not marked in any way and I’ve never been able to find it on-line.

  23. I would love to read about your McCoy pottery.

    Like Chris, I woke up yesterday with a cold and sore throat. Throw into the mix dreary, chilly, rainy weather and I am ready for sunshine and some warmer temps.

    • I hope you both feel better soon! Don and I didn’t get a great amount of sleep last night, so we’re definitely dragging.

  25. Yes, I really had a ‘start’ when I saw you’d written a book; good thing you explained it!

    I would love a post about McCoy pottery because I know nothing about it. Bauer pottery, yes. I have a couple of pieces; one from the mid- 50s which Mom bought in L.A as a set of good-sized planter pots to decorate a ledge on the front of the house. Large, heavy pots. A window washer stole two good ones in the late 90s but we couldn’t prove it. He washed the windows one day and, the next morning, the pots were gone. A friend of mine had tried to warn my mom that they were eye-catching, somebody with knowledge could probably spot them as vintage and worth some money. Hers were in pristine condition even though they were 40 years old and, at that time, even cracked, chipped and broken ones were in antique stores for $30 each. If you could find them. The washer-creep took the dark forest green one and the dark burgundy. The pink one had broken years before. The chartreuse had been temporarily moved to the backyard, so he missed that one; Mom was using it behind the shed as a seed starter, so it wasn’t in plain view. I love it so much and, of course, it’s nostalgic because the pots were just part of our house from the time I was a baby. Same friend mentioned earlier is a collector of Catalina pottery including tile. (Did you ever go to Catalina Island when you were living in San Diego?) We went to an exhibition at the Autry museum in L.A. several years ago which had an extensive array of California pottery as well as other ceramics, including quite a lot of Fiestaware. Really interesting collections from the 1930s. She and I are both mad over Franciscanware. She still uses the set she bought in the early 70s and I have my aunt’s from the early 1940s.

    • I have a few pieces of Bauer, including a very large mint green planting pot, from my time living in California and I know of Catalina Pottery. I used to collect Fiesta and had a very large collection, which I started when I was living in Boston. Several years later, I sold the entire collection to a guy who also collected. This was before eBay was in existence. I kept a few of my favorite pieces and I’ll never get rid of them.

      • I think I can understand unloading a large collection of one thing. It’s a lot about the downsizing/decluttering; trying to still have things but not be buried alive. Sometimes our tastes change, too, over time. I have so many pieces of the Franciscanware but it’s the very, very common Desert Rose, not the apple or ivy. My husband doesn’t like it. I almost prefer the newer Franciscanware Desert Rose which was made in England, at least in the 1980s; I like the thicker glaze and the heft.

        I don’t know how I got this lucky, but I have a fire-engine-red Fiesta pitcher of my grandmother’s from what I’m pretty-much able to pinpoint as the late 1930s; perfect condition. I know reds from previous decades can have lead but I don’t serve with it; it’s just a great stand-alone conversation piece without having to do anything but just look fantastic.

        I’m on the lookout for eggs cups for you now. I went to Goodwill two days in a row for myself but also kept an eye peeled for an egg cup; maybe next visit something will show. My town is poor with a lot of unemployment so there’s not always a good selection. The emphasis in my Goodwill is more on clothes; they seem to get a staggering amount of new clothes from Target…I’ve learned that’s the case with many Goodwill locations. I’m not there for clothes; I’m there for books and ceramics. There’s a Salvation Army in a nearby town which I haven’t been to in awhile and I have to go someplace near next week, so I’ll check in there, too. I picked up awesome binoculars on a half-off sale at Goodwill yesterday so that I can see the wild birds and feral kitties better in my backyard and hillside; my eyes aren’t great and these are powerful, from a date inside the leather case I can barely see that looks like 1944.

  27. I love everything but I have to confess I clicked on Don’ widget and was so excited to find another John Prine aficionado. I tried to listen to the video but my ears are still stopped up from this respiratory infection that I couldn’t turn my lap top loud enough to hear. I plan to try again as soon as my hearing is back. But back to the pictures, I especially love the bird lamp and pottery.

  28. I love pottery, though mine is more Arts & Crafts period, I have some of the McCoy that you do, and would love to see more of your collection.

    • I used to dabble a bit in that period when we lived in the Craftsman house in San Diego. I love those pieces.

  29. Claudia,
    Yes, please do a McCoy series and let us post photos of our own favs for you to see!
    Cannot wait!
    Susan

  31. Claudia, you could write a post about dust bunnies and I would enjoy it.

    (Not to imply that you have dust bunnies.)

    “Yes” to the McCoy and to anything else you’d like to share. Your photographs are interesting and lovely, always.

    Scout looks so peaceful and contented. Warms my heart.

  32. Love all your pretty collectibles and unique lamps, especially the parakeets. I would enjoy reading about your McCoy pottery too. I still need to add a few pieces to my collection and I’ve always admired your lovely McCoy birds too!

  33. Yes, I love seeing every thing you are willing to share with us. You have such neat “stuff”…really loved your egg cups.

  35. I recently inherited a large McCoy clown cookie jar. He is a bit scary looking but I love him. Do you know anything about him? I would love to learn more about McCoy. Thanks.

  37. I am always so impressed that you are able to keep your impatiens from year to year, Claudia. See you in a few hours. xo Laura

    • Most of them overwintered rather nicely – only one bit the dust, Laura. See you very soon indeed!

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