I woke up early this morning. Calculating when Scout will need to be let outside has become a part of the fabric of our days. We keep a chart on the chalkboard, right by the kitchen door. I knew that I had to get out of bed by 6 am at the latest and when I woke at 5:30, I hoped I could go back to sleep for a half an hour. But you know how it goes. Thoughts start to intrude. Will I wake up? Should I go downstairs now? Has an accident occurred? And pretty soon it’s almost 6. So I got up. She was on her perch on the sofa, awake, watching me as I came down the stairs.

Just in time.

She’s such a good girl. Most of the time, the three of us somehow manage to make things run smoothly and Scoutie can rest easy. Sometimes we miss the mark. But it’s a guilt-free zone here at the cottage. We love our girl.

We took a walk the other day, down the road to the river.

Those are Canada Geese. There are hundreds of them on the river this time of year. All the way down to that bend and up and down the river beyond the range of my iPhone camera. The sheer number of them is astounding. Such beautiful creatures.

It’s time for egg cups!

There are all sorts of egg cups. When I started collecting about fourteen years ago, I was drawn to figural egg cups because of their charming and whimsical designs. They are the bulk of my collection. But I have others, as well. Figural egg cups are getting harder and harder to find. Fourteen years ago, there seemed to be a lot to choose from, especially on eBay. I could be found on our computer, day and night, sneaking in a bid or two. It was a lot of fun, this new collecting obsession of mine. It still is, but finding the sort of detailed figural egg cup I love is much more difficult these days. I’m picky and I like vintage. Newish egg cups aren’t as well made or as inventive. There are exceptions, but not many. So I’m branching out and extending my collection to include other shapes and types of egg cups.

In terms of a basic egg cup, there are two kinds: double and single. A single egg cup has one cup, usually the perfect size to hold a hard-boiled egg – or a soft-boiled egg – right in its shell. The double egg cup has that same sized cup and another larger cup used to eat a soft-boiled egg.

Almost all my figural egg cups are single egg cups, but I will highlight them separately. Here are my basic single egg cups:

From left to right:

1. One of the very first egg cups I purchased – a lovely lustreware egg cup made in Japan. I love the blue green band on the rim.

2. Don brought this egg cup home to me from Prague. That’s the skyline of Prague, and the word Praha (Prague).

3. Unmarked. A more recent find. It’s very heavy, which makes me think it might be ironstone. The scene depicted is Asian, not sure if it’s Japan or China. I think it’s quite old. I found it last summer in Chautauqua.

4. Another egg cup, this time square in shape, from Prague. Thanks Don!

5. A Delft egg cup from Holland, marked with the number 28. It was a gift from my mom. When Mom heard I was collecting egg cups, she would look for them wherever she went. I have several from her.

Double egg cups:

1. One of my earliest acquisitions. I call it the Rooster Egg Cup. Marked: Holt Howard 1961. Japan. This egg cup was in pristine condition until I dropped it one day. I wanted to scream. But instead, I glued it back together.

2. Another early acquisition – a basic green and white double egg cup. Unmarked. It probably was part of a set of dinnerware.

3. A red transferware double egg cup. It’s unmarked, but it’s made by Johnson Bros. I love that pattern.

4. Brown transferware double egg cup, made in England. Marked Mason’s Vista. One of my favorites.

5. Flow blue double egg cup. Vintage. (Well I guess most of the egg cups are vintage!) Unmarked.

More tomorrow. If you have any questions, fire away! I love talking about my egg cups. We’ll start on the figural cups tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday.