pottery — Page 7

Pottery Plotting

April 10, 2015 at 8:50 am by Claudia

3-17 duck1

I’m so glad you want to see a series about McCoy Pottery! Thank you so much for all the positive responses!

I’m already thinking about how to present it. By color? By the room the pottery is in? By theme? The mind boggles.

I have several pieces way up on top of my cupboards in the kitchen. Doing the series means I have to get them down from there and give them a good wash – always a good thing. It also means I will pull out my McCoy reference books to check my facts about each piece. And maybe I’ll see a photo of that duck up there on the piano which will confirm my suspicion that, though unmarked, it is indeed McCoy.

I’m more than a little in love with that duck, by the way.

Thinking about all things McCoy sent me to eBay yesterday, where I cruised through pages and pages of listings. I wasn’t there to bid on anything, just to see what’s available nowadays. The most recent pieces I’ve acquired have been via local antique shops where I just happened on a piece that I didn’t have, but in the beginning almost everything I purchased was through eBay.

I could talk about pottery and china for hours. I’m drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Fantasy: We build an addition onto the house that has a family room, master bedroom and a laundry room with lots of storage. It also has lots of shelves for books. And pottery.

Oh my goodness, my heart just races at the thought of it all.

This morning is still rainy and dreary and I could swear the weather report was for a nicer, warmer, sunnier day today. What the ??? The last three days have been damp, cold, and interminably rainy. We desperately need to see the sun here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Happy Friday.

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Around the House

April 9, 2015 at 8:49 am by Claudia

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.

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What Would You Choose?

March 22, 2015 at 10:00 am by Claudia

3-22 bookshelves

My gaze often lands on these bookshelves.

I love books. I read them in various ways: through the library, via a used bookstore, on my Kindle, through advanced review copies, and in their brand spanking new form via a bookstore. I have hundreds of books (I’m afraid to count them. I might be horrified. Or not.) The bookshelves upstairs in the bedroom are crammed full. They’re the deepish Expedit shelves from IKEA, which allows me to place books two deep on the shelves.

Anyway, back to the bookshelves. It occurs to me that, even though I am being very selective about the books I place on our den shelves, I will run out of room before long.

Then what will I do?

Side note: Did you know I’ve reviewed over 90 books on this blog and the book blog? I have to say I’m impressed!

I donate a lot of books to our local library. They, in turn, sell them to raise money. I never take them to a used bookstore, though I loved used bookstores, only because I feel better about donating to the good cause that is our local library.

But, gosh darn it, most of the books I acquire I want to keep. They are the map of my reading journey. They tell a story about what I’ve read, the reading phases I’ve gone through, the worlds I have visited in my imagination. Some are old friends that I revisit like clockwork. Some are reference books that also require revisiting. All of them are beautiful.

A book is a beautiful thing.

If I had a dream I would like to come true, it would be to have enough space here at the cottage for bookshelves in every room – preferably built-in bookshelves. Alas, we are limited as to wall space here simply because we have so many windows.

But wouldn’t that be scrumptious? Bookshelves in every room?

Let’s play a game. Let’s say that I was ordered to furnish a small home with only two things I love to collect. Only two collections.

I could have a bed, a sofa and a chair or two. Some lamps. The basic necessities. And some device that would let me play music.

Two collections? I would choose my books and my pottery.

That would be enough. (We’re not counting living beings here, of course. Don and Scout are a given.)

If you had to play the same game, what would you choose?

Happy Sunday.

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Pottery Plotting

Around the House

What Would You Choose?

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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