collecting — Page 19

Bricks, Roses & A Dwarf

June 13, 2017 at 7:43 am by Claudia

This is what was happening yesterday. And will be happening again today. The chimney is finally being re-bricked. It’s much more involved than I thought.

The local company we use is family owned, two brothers who are as honest as the day is long. I really like them. A great deal of work was done yesterday and today, about 75 bricks have to be put into place and then they’re done. Good thing, because we might have a thunderstorm later in the day.

Needless to say it was noisy and my car was hemmed in by their two big trucks, so I was stuck in the house, but really, I have nothing to complain about. They had to work outside in 93° heat and humidity. I was inside with the a/c going. Grateful this is finally being done.

No more blue tarp covering the chimney!

I managed to snag some bricks from the old chimney and they’re now stacked next to the porch. I can use them for garden borders.

Speaking of the garden:

Lordy, these roses are beautiful. (Homage to James Comey.)

I had another lucky, lucky eBay experience recently. I received an alert in my email telling me there was a Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs egg cup up for auction. I clicked on the link and, once again, there was the ‘Buy Now’ option at a great price. I couldn’t believe my luck!

Yesterday, all the way from Quebec, this guy arrived in my mailbox:

Hey there, Grumpy. Welcome.

And here is that mark:

This one brings my dwarf count to four. That means I yet to find Sneezy, Sleepy and Happy. And the elusive Snow White.

As it is, I had to put Grumpy on another shelf because there’s only room for three of them per shelf (the one hanging in the den.) I may have to rethink where they live. Maybe they deserve their very own shelf?

I love these guys and they’re hard to find, which makes them very collectible.

High temps again today with a break coming tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday.

Bashful

May 9, 2017 at 9:09 am by Claudia

I don’t know whether you do this, but I have alerts set on eBay for a couple of things I collect. Not Roseville or McCoy because I would get a slew of new listings every day. But I do have an alert for vintage Nancy Drew and for the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs egg cups that were made for Walt Disney in 1937. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that they are highly collectible and hard to find. I am the proud owner of two of them, Doc and Dopey. In the past couple of years, I have a bid on several, only to lose them to a higher bidder. Very frustrating!

The other day, I received an email alert for a new listing – Bashful. To my surprise, it wasn’t an auction, but a “Buy Now” and the price was very reasonable. I quickly clicked on the listing – it was still there, which was a miracle – and I bought it! I couldn’t believe it. It was so easy. Would that they were all this way! He arrived yesterday.

There he is! He’s in excellent condition. I’m so excited – can you tell?

Each name is on the egg cup itself.

Look at that sweet face. I’m truly amazed by the condition of this egg cup – the eyes, the rosy cheeks, the mouth – the paint is beautifully intact.

And there he is with Doc and Dopey. Doc and Dopey, by the way, seem to be up for auction far more often than the other dwarfs. The rest are quite rare. Snow White herself comes up once in a blue moon and usually goes for a hefty sum.

But, ever hopeful, I will strive to acquire them all.

I’m so thrilled that I got this little guy and for a very modest price, to boot!

I didn’t mulch or mow yesterday because it was cold and windy. Today, I will mow. Tomorrow, I’ll buy the mulch and some more plants and trust that the cold weather is departing, as it looks like the low overnight temps will be edging upward. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday, on his day off, Don drove out to the Borrego Springs in the desert, as it is a community without street lights and is known as a great place to see the stars. I haven’t heard about the stars yet as that happened after I was in bed, but I do know that I put in a request for some apple pie, as Julian is on the way to Borrego Springs.

Hmmmm. Will I be getting one in the mail?

Happy Tuesday.

Presents, Songbirds, Flowers & Chairs

April 29, 2017 at 7:57 am by Claudia

A presents day yesterday, from others and from me to me/us!

Nancy, who is a longtime reader of this blog, sent me a package full of wonderful treasures. Three more Hardy Boys for Don, a Nancy Drew for me, and two beautiful pieces of miniature pottery. The moon-faced pitcher (Nancy told me to google it for interesting information) looks like it was made by Enesco and was also manufactured in other colors and lustreware finishes. The other piece is a Shawnee miniature. I love everything.

Thank you so much, Nancy! What a generous gift!

I also received a package from Don. I didn’t take a photo of it because it’s a T-shirt, but it’s from the famous Blue Swallow Motel on Route 66 and it has a great logo. Perfect for this bird-loving girl.

The flowers Don sent me for opening night. The roses have opened and the pale pink peony is about to open. Aren’t they gorgeous?

From me to me: another Nancy Drew. This is one of the later editions illustrated by Russell H. Tandy. We’re getting there – only seven more to go but a few of those are extremely hard to find!

We get a pile of sales circulars in the mail every week and I usually throw them in the recycling pile without even looking at them. This week, for some reason, I looked through them and saw one from The Christmas Tree Shops. I decided to quickly take a look at it – thank goodness I did – and what did I see? Adirondack chairs made out of cedar for $49. What????? Not only that, but they fold up, so we can store them in the shed (if we ever clean it out.)

I drove across the river yesterday and came home with them.

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I have always, always wanted a couple of Adirondack chairs! I’m so excited! I could paint them, but I think I’ll leave them natural, with the addition of a clear coat. Cedar ages well, and our porch furniture tends to be weathered wood.

They’ll go on the porch. I’m on the hunt for colorful cushions. I haven’t put them together yet. Maybe today, but I also have to mow so we’ll see what happens.

I mowed the back forty yesterday, as well as the corral. Today, the front yard, because it’s due to rain tomorrow.

It’s finally time to soak my morning glory seeds. I’ll be sowing them on Monday, along with zinnia and moonflower seeds. Huzzah! And, I have yet to buy impatiens for the porch or flowers for the planters, but I did move all the plants I overwintered this year back out to the porch.

Spring is here.

I made a cup of coffee this morning and went outside to sit on the funky patio. It was about 6:15 and the air was full of bird song. Glorious. I’m going to do it more often. At that point in the day, traffic is fairly quiet around here and the songbirds can take center stage. It’s a beautiful way to start the day.

Happy Saturday.

Bricks, Roses & A Dwarf

Bashful

Presents, Songbirds, Flowers & Chairs

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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