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You are here: Home / Archives for egg cups

All Together Now

August 18, 2018 at 8:03 am by Claudia

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.

 

 

Filed Under: collecting, egg cups, gifts 42 Comments

Cubbified

August 17, 2018 at 9:22 am by Claudia

It wasn’t easy getting this piece home, but we did it. We borrowed our neighbor’s van because the cabinet was too long and too wide for our CR-V. But moving it out of the antique barn required three of us trying to maneuver it out a door, down a flight of stairs and into the car, all the while sweating in 90% humidity. The whole time we were worried about the glass doors. And dropping it. But Patty, who works at the barn, is an old pro at loading and unloading furniture – I don’t know what we would have done without her!

I had to lighten this photo a bit because it can be dark in this little corner. For a second, I panicked that it wouldn’t fit, but it fits beautifully, almost as if it was made for this space. Don and I are in love with it and we can’t believe what a difference it makes in our home.

It also takes up less space than the desk that was here previously. The cabinet is only 8 inches deep, so it doesn’t block access to the bathroom, which is to the right.

Once we got it in the house, Don took off with his camera and I proceeded to clean out 86 dusty and dirty cubbies. Yikes! Then I had to sort through all the stuff in the desk, find a new home for all of it, then put the desk and chair outside for Don to take to our storage unit.

While cleaning, I discovered some things about the backstory of this piece. I think the cubbies were separate at one point and that long ago, someone built this cabinet around them. Why? Because there are letters and numbers and, in some cases, names written in pencil over the cubbies in old-fashioned handwriting. But whoever built this unit put the cubbies in upside down, so I have to cock my head to read them. Most likely they were in an office somewhere, used as mail sorters/mail slots.

See the R and the S? There are also paper letter tags towards the bottom of the unit. When I have some more light (it’s cloudy today) I’ll try to take some pictures of the names,

I haven’t done anything other than to clean it thoroughly and put two egg cups inside just to see how they fit and how they look.

They fit perfectly, as I knew they would.

Eventually, I might get a piano/desk lamp that would focus light downward on the contents of the cabinet. We’ll see.

I love this piece. It was made for our little cottage!

I’ll most likely spend the weekend playing with the egg cups and where to place them in the cabinet. This morning I have to recycle and do some mowing before…yes, you guessed it…the weekend brings even more rain.

Happy Friday.

 

Filed Under: antiques, collecting, egg cups, vintage 60 Comments

What to Do?

August 14, 2018 at 9:55 am by Claudia

At the last minute, I went along with Don to a charming local shopping area where he often photographs people. He wanted to use up his film so he could replace the current Polaroid Back on his Crown Graphic with one that is easier to use. But he couldn’t change it out until he finished the film.

It was raining. Constantly. That made for a soggy day, but I have to say I saw first hand the attraction that camera has for passersby. So many questions about it. So much interest! And we had a great conversation with a guy who is a former model. He’s led such an interesting life. I told him he was a Renaissance Man. His photo is on Don’s IG feed.

Anyway, this little market has two antique shops that I have been visiting for years. Off I went. In the largest shop, which is housed in an old barn, I found a $10 vintage flower print.

I love these prints, circa 1940s – 1950s. I have one in our downstairs bathroom and I’m thinking of putting this one in the upstairs bathroom. It’s in great shape. The hanger on the back is for hanging it like this, but now that I look at the signature, I think it might be intended to hang horizontally.

Hmmm.

In the other shop I found…

More Neccos! There were only four rolls of the traditional Neccos left, so I snapped them up. Then I grabbed some chocolate Neccos.

The jar is getting pretty full.  But there is room for a few more.

And because I felt guilty about only buying candy (do you ever do this?) I threw in a $10 piece of McCoy.

It wasn’t marked as McCoy, but yours truly recognized it right away. It has crazing everywhere but no chips. It’s been a while since I’ve purchased any McCoy.

But the item that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind is this:

If you follow me on IG, you’re already familiar with it. I was gobsmacked by this one.

Wouldn’t this be the most perfect display piece for my egg cups? I counted the cubbies. There are 86 of them. I have about 60 egg cups.

But we really don’t have the room and I really shouldn’t spend the money.

But I cannot stop thinking about it, which is leading me to measure a couple of spaces in our house to see if somehow I could squeeze it in. The windows and light that we have in our cottage are wonderful, but they guaranteed we don’t have a lot of wall space. Add to that the slanted half walls in our attic-type rooms on the second floor and you see my dilemma. Plus, we have the dreaded baseboard heating which guarantees that every piece of furniture stands out from the wall.

This house is jam packed.

But will I ever see such an amazing piece again? I swear that it’s calling my name.

So I’m going to measure the wall in our office where the Nuttings are hanging. That seems like the best bet. Anywhere else would require changing another piece of furniture out and then where would we put that  piece?

I really feel like I will regret it if I pass this one up. I wish I could have photographed it head on but it’s tucked back into a corner of the store.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

Happy Tuesday.

 

Filed Under: antiques, egg cups, McCoy pottery, vintage 82 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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