Good morning! This will be our last rain-free day for a week. April showers, right on time.

Unless I discover that I’ve left a couple of egg cups out of the tour, we reach the end of our journey today. Some of you have asked if I still collect egg cups. Not actively, but if I see something I really want, I might just buy it. There are few available cubbies at this point. I did buy one last year and I’ve been perusing eBay, but nothing has spoken to me. And yes, a lot of you have mentioned seeing what I’ve been talking about: there are far, far less vintage figural cups available online or in antique shops. I think I got into collecting them at just the right time. There were still so many beautiful figural cups available and, in those pre-Paypal days, I spent hours hunting down egg cups and sending – get this – money orders  to the sellers. Australia, England, France! I had such fun. Yes, I know the basics on each cup, but in retrospect, I wish I had noted the country, the seller, when I purchased it, etc.

As far as current collecting, I’ve slowed down so much that I’ve almost hit the brakes. And that’s not just on egg cups. I no longer actively seek out McCoy or Roseville pottery. I tend to borrow books from the library and rarely buy one.  I’m 73 and I live in a small cottage. I will most likely sell more items in my collections on Etsy or eBay, but not yet. I have enough Blythe dolls. A few smaller dolls, like Ruby or Greta, might come my way, mostly because I love their size and I do the faceups myself. It’s good practice for me. Don and I have really faced the fact that we are creative artists and we have to keep creating. Especially now. That’s why Don writes songs and records them on video. That’s why I do what I do. Otherwise, we would go a little mad.

Speaking of Greta, yesterday I enhanced her original faceup – she needed rosier cheeks, and her eyebrows needed a bit of work, along with some additional tweaking here and there.

Gosh, she’s a cutie.

Okay. Egg cups.

On the left, a newish egg cup from Emma Bridgewater. I found it in her shop in London.

In the middle, another Fannie Farmer eggcup. I have 2 of them and they were sent to me by a reader of this blog.

And a gold lustreware cup being carried by a little bear. My friend Lynnie, who lives in Canada, sent it to me.

A Jadeite double egg cup.

A charming little cup that I watched on Etsy for over a year until I finally succumbed. It’s a souvenir egg cup from Chambéry in the French Alps. Why did I want it? There are two groundhogs gazing at the mountains.

And on the right, another double egg cup – this one by Hankscraft. It has an Art Deco look that I love.

C’est fini!

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

The temperature has dropped rather dramatically, as often happens in March. It’s lovely and sunny, though, so I’m happy. I have a few more egg cups to share with you today and on Monday. And then, I think we’re done! I love getting reacquainted with my collection, so this annual event is good for me, too!

Here we have some single egg cups.

From the left:

A lovely little wood and porcelain cup with pretty flowers on the rim. Made in Japan. Most importantly, it was a gift from my mom. When she heard I had started collecting egg cups, she kept an eye out for them. I have several from her.

Next, an egg cup from Prague. (I have a square cup from Prague, as well.) Both are gifts from Don, who traveled to Prague several years ago to film an episode of The American Experience for PBS. He spent what little spare time he had sightseeing, of course, and looking for egg cups and a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird in Czech. He never found the book, but he did bring home the egg cups and some painted eggs.

A lustreware egg cup in gold and blue.

A vintage piece of Spode in the pattern Chelsea Bird. There are beautiful bugs and butterflies inside the rim, as well.

A Delft egg cup from Holland. Another sweet gift from my mom.

I’m not sure where I got the first one on the left. Was it a gift, or did I find it somewhere? It’s a lovely blue and cream cup.

Next, a plastic Art Deco-style cup that I found at the flea market in Paris.

Another egg cup from Paris, one with a red transferware pattern and open on both ends. It wasn’t until I returned home and started researching it that I discovered it is a diabolo style egg cup. Eventually, I saw a collection from a woman in France who has scads of this style cup and I was eager to start a separate collection of transferward diabolos, but most of them are sold by people living in France and the shipping charges are way too expensive. I’ll just be happy that I have one of them.

And a blue and white cup of unknown origin. It’s extremely heavy – most likely made from stoneware. I purchased it, but that’s all I remember about this one.

More on Monday.

I’m getting out the fabric eggs today. And my piece by Vintage by Crystal.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

We worked outside yesterday because it was very warm – one of those lone warm days in the midst of much cooler temperatures. There was lots of raking going on, especially of fallen pods from the catalpa and all of the Item 4 (gravel) that was tossed on to the grass by the snowblower. We were tuckered out. We’re not used to that kind of activity!

Here we go:

Bucket egg cups with the message: What came first, the chicken or the egg. These charming cups were a gift from my friend, Judy. The live on top of the egg cup cubby cabinet.

Four double egg cups from the Harlequin line, which was produced by Homer Laughlin Pottery, the creator of Fiesta Ware. They also live on top of the cabinet.

Two morning glory egg cups that I found at the Flea Market in Paris.

Two egg cups from the gift shop at Abbey Studios in London. I mean, how could I resist?

Two lovely egg cups from my cousin, Eileen. She was with her husband in an antique shop in Mississippi, saw them, and immediately texted the photos to me. Beloved family.

The first was made by Royal Stafford English Bone China in England. This dragon is one side, and some flowers are on the opposite side. The pattern is Dragon Blue.

A Peter Rabbit egg cup made by Wedgwood. There’s a large group of these delightful Beatrix Potter egg cups out there. Still available.

More tomorrow. We’re winding down the tour as we head toward Easter.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.