All of the various shelves that house my egg cup collections are full up, which has necessitated a new display here in the den. I’m always on the lookout for little ‘what-not’ hanging shelves, but until I find some this will do.
The four newest egg cups: On the left, a chick – a gift from Linda, the sailor – a gift from Scout and Don, the little boy – a gift to myself, and the rooster – a gift from Susie.
They make me smile.
Scoutie thanks you for all your Easter greetings. Saturday found me looking for those darn bunny ears in my sewing/craft/whatever closet. That ended up being a good thing because the closet was the kind of mess you see in old cartoons – you know, where you pull out one thing and everything else falls out of the closet. Don wasn’t home, so I took the opportunity to yank everything out of there. Three trash bags later, I had restored some semblance of order. I still have to go through all my fabric (yikes) but I hesitate because, even though I haven’t used much of it in years, I just might need it one day…
Here is Miss Scout at her most pensive – from my Instagram feed:
If you’re interested, you can subscribe to my Instagram feed by clicking here. I really love Instagram, but it does not replace a blog post. I saw a post from a favorite blogger the other day that said she could be mostly be found on Instagram nowadays instead of her blog. I was so disappointed. I understand time constraints and families and all that kind of thing – but an Instagram post is not a blog post. Nor should it be. When I flip through my IG feed, the whole idea is for it to flow rather quickly. If I find a post that’s too wordy, I keep moving. Blogs are for depth and words and stories. IG is for a quick peek into the lives of those we follow.
Today, after a couple of cold, windy and very rainy days, we have sunny skies and the temperature is supposed to hit 60 degrees. Huzzah! Boston plays baseball today. We watched the opening game between the Cubs and the Cardinals last night. We’re ready for baseball!
You all know I love collections, right? I love collecting things that I love. And, try as I might, I keep on collecting: McCoy Pottery, egg cups, bakelite, books, Roseville Pottery, miniature pottery, china, bride and groom cake toppers, fabric – I’m sure there’s more, but let’s stop there. Most everything I collect is on the smallish side, simply because we live in a tiny cottage.
I’m starting another collection.
I grew up, as I’m sure most of you did, reading Nancy Drew books. They were my first introduction to mysteries, which, all these many years later, remain my favorite kind of book to read. A while back, I found this book in a used bookstore:
There are all sorts of editions of Nancy Drew Mystery Stories out there. I grew up reading the ones with the yellow covers. But this one really drew me in. I fell in love with the illustration by Russell H. Tandy. He only did 25 of them, from 1930 – 1949.
These are the editions I’m going to collect. I love the vintage look to these covers, the period clothing, and Tandy’s particular style. I’ve done a lot of research, something I love to do, as you know. I see them on eBay and Etsy, so I know they’re out there. This will be fun! And won’t they look lovely on the bookshelves?
The winner of a copy of The Dead Key is Sylvia. Sylvia, I’ve sent you an email. Please send me your mailing address and I’ll forward it on to TLC Book Tours. Congrats!
Happy Monday.
So many good memories of the library where I first discovered Nancy Drew mysteries. Happy Monday and happy opening day here in Detroit :-)
Happy Opening Day, Vicki!
Claudia, I too enjoy collecting various things that I love.The list goes on.I really did enjoy reading Your post . Your egg cups are darling,my fave has to be the little boy that looks like Humpty Dumpty.Your old books look charming . I’ve been following You for Years now and always enjoy Your post . Have a wonderful day-Denise
Thank you so much for commenting today, Denise. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who loves to collect!
Well, Claudia, another thing we have in common. I too grew up reading Nancy Drew with the yellow cover. I still have about 25 of them. Only one or two are vintage. Mostly I collect, books, fabrics and turtles with a few McCoy pieces thrown in. Happy Spring to you, Don and Scout!
Love that you still have your Nancy Drew books, Claudia!
Claudia I also collect wedding cake toppers-I was lucky enough to find one at a Paris flea market! It is my favorite now. They are hard to find at antique stores anymore.
Oh, lucky you! How neat to find one in Paris!
Sweet Scout……she looks so cute with her bunny ears!
And your egg cups..you have the best collection!
I read Nancy Drew books, too. Curled up in a wing back chair for hours, taking
in the twists and turns of an easy read.
xo
They were perfect for a young reader, weren’t they?
Gosh, I had so many Nancy Drew books. They were my favorite book to read. Wish I still had them all. I think your collections are just wonderful. The egg cups are so cute! Have a wonderful day!!
Hugs
I wish I still had mine too. I have no idea where they went!
I love that you have so many collections Claudia. I’m glad you are getting some spring. It’s a beautiful day here in central, Fl. Think I’ll try and get some home décor items switched around today that always gives me a lift.
I’m going to do some work outside because rain is predicted for the rest of the week.
Oh how I loved the Nancy Drew mysteries. I think I read them all! Dame Scout is adorable in her Easter Ears…such a cutie.
Such wonderful books, Vera. Scout thanks you!
Claudia, I’m afraid to list my collections :) I tell myself it’s OK as long as I love them. I have 4 yellow cover and 6 blueish covers without the bookjacket and one with a bookjacket(falling apart of course) of Nancy Drew books from my childhood. I’ll save them for baby Scout, maybe she will love mysteries like I do! I love the editions you are going to collect with the older illustrations. It’s rainy here today so I’m going to do some indoor work and probably curl up with a book to read also.
hugs,
Linda
I’m going to grab some time to work outside – it looks like the rest of the week will be rainy!
It’s good to see so many Nancy Drew fans here..Oh how I wish I had mine..I still have a touch of this lousy cold so I am staying in today..I went out too soon to do my shopping and ended up feeling miserable again..Going to read a book on my Kindle and snuggle my cats..Have fun outside Claudia..take some pictures for us..
Feel better very soon, Nancy. Those buggers can hang on – so frustrating! Read and snuggle and give your cats some love!
I read every Nancy Drew book I could get my hands on but didn’t own very many of them. I love that you’re going to collect them. Scout. Oh my goodness. She is one very sweet dog.
Blessings,
Betsy
I’m thinking I didn’t own a lot, either. I think I took them out of the library and borrowed some from friends.
I think you have something here. Whereas now we buy, back in the day our families probably just couldn’t. We had one small bookcase of books at the family home, but that was it and they were mostly reference. What we did was go to the community library (and school library) every single week, from the time I was a preschooler to well into my early adulthood, and I was lucky I had a patient Mom who would sit out in the car when I was a wee thing, waiting for me to appear with the armful of books I’d devour that weekend. I didn’t buy books until I was in my 20s with my first apartment away from home; first full-time job. Heck, I didn’t have any money when I was a kid! Babysitting at 50-cents an hour only went so far! Boys had it better in terms of making some cash…they could pick lemons in summer and man the smudge pots (“orchard heaters”) for the same lemon groves in frosty winters (when we used to actually have frosty winter; this is Southern California). I had a part-time typing job in the summer before senior year of high school, but that money went for school clothes (mostly fabric and patterns!) and I think my class ring & yearbook. I can remember scraping and scraping to come up with enough money to buy a tube of white lipstick in about 1966, all the rage and only worn outside of Mom’s sight, in junior high (“middle school” they call it now). It was a different time. I see kids of age 12-13 now going into Starbucks after school and spending $4 on a drink, whereas for us at that age, it was penny bubble gum. When I started buying books, I guess that’s when I quit going to the library. Didn’t really stop to think about that til just now. I’m thinking I should probably rediscover the library myself. We need to do that, so that libraries can stay alive. Maybe if I’d remembered about my library card over the years, I wouldn’t have spent the huge amount of money I’ve spent on brand-new books, only to just read once and then pass along although, of course, so many sit on my shelves right now as good friends and I couldn’t part with them for all the world.
Me too, Vicki. I had to save babysitting money (which, let’s face it, wasn’t much) to buy books and magazines.
I still have all my ‘Nancy Drew’ books. One of my aunts, who never married, loved it that I was a reader – none of her other nieces or nephews was – and she was always saying how easy I was to shop for. She always gave me whatever books were on my list. And my ‘Nancy Drew’ set is probably vintage now too – LOL! There’s no room for them on my many bookshelves though, so I keep them boxed on a clean, dry shelf [no trace of mustiness yet]. My niece got the reading gene too, and I gave her books all the time as well, including the entire Harry Potter series and most of the Nancy Drews. PS – so ready for “Play ball!”
We’re watching the Red Sox as I write this Reply, Janet. Yay!
Happy hunting with your new collection! My daughters collect snow globes. When their dad traveled for business, he’d bring home a snow globe for each of them. I ended up buying IKEA shelves, the very narrow ones with a short lip, and installing them around their bedrooms at door frame level. I use non-slip shelf liner on the shelves so I don’t have to worry too much about the snow globes falling off. So far, so good.
My youngest sister used to collect snow globes. That’s an awfully nice thing to collect!
How fun…another collection! I used to have quite the collection of Nancy Drew…I think my parents gave them away…but I do remember them being blue. That was the series that got me started on mysteries. I went to my first garage sale last week, and found three small metal sculptures…another thing I collect…must stop, must stop! ;)
There’s a couple of editions with blue hardcovers- in fact, the book underneath the dust cover (the one that I have) is blue.
I didn’t know you collected bakelite. Please show your collection one day. My favorite is my stainless steel silverware. We use it everyday. The handles are a variety of colors. I use all the different colors and styles when I set the table. My favorite are the red handles. Most of it I bought on ebay but I still finds pieces at a thrift store once in awhile.
I have some items with bakelite handles and some bakelite napkin rings and a lot of the silverware. I collected it all several years ago from various antique shops. I love it, too!
I loved Nancy Drew novels and my brothers had the Hardy Boys also….I can still picture them on the shelf in my childhood home.
Such a part of our growing up years!
I loved reading Nancy Drew when I was young. I have a few of the yellow ones and my Mom still has several of hers with the Tandy covers. They are in pretty good shape considering they were enjoyed by my Mom, me & my younger sister. I also have a couple of Dana Girls mysteries.
Good for you! Wonderful books. I never read any of the Dana Girl mysteries, though I see them advertised on the Drew dust jacket.
I collect old Nancy Drew books. I love them. I think a lot of younger bloggers have switched to IG. I agree. I love it for the visuals, but it doesn’t give the same depth. xo Laura
No, it doesn’t. Blogging will always be a more in-depth form of communication.
I don’t have many collections– I can never think of them off the top of my head! I guess I’m not passionate about any of them. Though, I do have a thing for wooden boxes– I collect those! And in recent years pottery type planters in jewel tones. Most of the time my collections consist of textiles, handwork, doilies or vintage potholders! There I’ve made a pretty good list!
I’m guilty of Insta-gramming!
…and I do follow you there. :)
We had rain yesterday– and today is warm and muggy. But there is plenty to do around here both inside and outside– I’ve been rather busy all day.
I hope you have a good and productive day today. Oh! and good for you getting your closet organized.
Have fun with the Nancy Drew collecting. I read some, but loved The Little House on the Prairie books!
lastly… our season open is later in the week. Friday I believe. This reminds me to check the schedule.
Loved all the Little House books, too. I read them all. I love Instagram, don’t get me wrong, I just couldn’t do it in place of blogging. In addition…yes!
oh yes…Nancy Drew. Also loved the Bobsey Twins and Cherry Ames about a nurse.
Me too. And Fifteen by Beverly Cleary. Does anyone remember that book? I must have read it 5 or 6 times.
Oh, gosh, I’m over-commenting but it’s so hard not to chime in! I have a mega love for Beverly Cleary from the time I was a little girl reading about Ramona and Henry. Yes, I read Fifteen…a jillion times.
I loved anything Beverly Cleary. But Fifteen, oh, my goodness, I LOVED that book!
I did read a lot of Nancy Drew. I wish I had my original books, which were probably hand-me-downs from my cousins; I bought several in later years just so I could have them but they just don’t have that same vintage feel. Amazing how a certain series will stand the test of time or at least remain a special favorite in one’s own history. I liked the Hardy Boys series on TV which I think was somehow attached to the Mickey Mouse Club(?). Something about that book cover you’re showing strikes a bell in the deep recesses of my memory. I’ve recently been remembering books I read in the 1960s which belonged to a neighbor friend’s mom…she’d kept them from her youth: Armine von Tempski’s book about Hawaii called PAM’S PARADISE RANCH and also all those Candy Kane books; I think the other name was Penny Parrish(?). Christine’s mom had a ton of these books and we spent a whole summer reading them. I think the mom would have been reading these books herself in the early 1940s if I try to establish a timeline. I seem to recall them being about military families and West Point and a word I’d never come across before, ‘plebes.’ Although somewhere in this cache of books was also a heroine of nursing. Now you’ve got me to thinking about all of this, so I’ll have to do more research, too!
Yes, the Hardy Boys were a part of Walt Disney’s daily series, I think. And Spin and Marty.
Was the heroine of nursing Clara Barton? Or Cherry Ames? Both of them were favorites of mine.
Cherry Ames is the one. Just couldn’t think of the name when I was commenting. Oh, Spin and Marty, how I loved that show! I thought Tim Considine was dreamy; yes, he was on both Spin and Marty AND The Hardy Boys. And there were a few shows called “Annette” I think, which was of course Annette Funicello. I probably misspelled that. I remember one episode was about a missing locket. Another show or series they ran on Mickey Mouse Club that I also liked was called The Horsemasters. When you’re an impressionable kid in a small town seeing this kind of TV…I believe this was supposed to have taken place in southwest England’s horse country although, who knows, it might have been filmed on the back lot(!)…it plants a seed of wanting to experience that or going to that place…just wanting to BE those characters, ‘transported’ through the magic of that screen (or the pages of that book). A dozen years later, I really did learn to ride English saddle and I really did go to southwestern England; I’d never forgotten that show and I made it happen for myself. TV, movies and books just opened up the world and all its possibilities to a fanciful girl.
Whups, I’m wrong on that. Horsemasters was on Sunday night, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, not the Mickey Mouse Club. Just looked it up! What memories!!! 1961. Oh, to follow…Hans Brinker, The Moonspinners, The Three Lives of Thomasina; Bon Voyage. Remember Tommy Kirk, and Moochie? Ah, those were the days…
Tommy Kirk – wonderfully wry and funny. Loved him. Loved The Moonspinners, which set me off on the exploration of Mary Stewart mysteries. What about The Fighting Prince of Donegal with Peter McEnery and Susan Hampshire? I still watch it if I see it’s going to be aired on TV.
Major crush on Tim Considine. And I wanted to BE Annette. I thought there could be nothing better than being a member of the Mouseketeers. It looked like such fun! Who wouldn’t want a sweater with their name on it?
Oh, I forgot about Peter McEnery outside of Moonspinners, both movies done around the same time, mid-60s I guess. He was SO cute. And you’re so, so right about Mary Stewart…wow, we baby boomers followed a pattern, didn’t we…as I went on to read so many of her books. I loved AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND about the Lipizzaner horses.
This isn’t a comment to post but I wanted to write to you. I’ve been reading your blog for several years and just want you to know that I really enjoy it and admire you and your husband (and your Scout!) I too am a collector, a reader (I’ve worked in public libraries for 40 years), and a quiet stay-at-home type. I have some egg cups that I would love to send you. I’m clearing out in the anticipation of retirement in about 5 years. So, if you would feel comfortable giving me your mailing address some additions to your collection could be on the way to you. I would be honored.
Sincerely,
Judy
I’m not a weird stalker or anything. I work at the Camas Public Library in Camas, WA if that helps any!
You are so sweet. I wrote you privately – I hope you got the email? If not, let me know and I’ll try again.
Another thing I loved — Nancy Drew mysteries. I kept mine ( always asked for them at Christmas and birthdays) and began collecting the rest about 20 years ago. Now I have most of them — some in very good shape and others not so much, but I love them all anyway. Happily, my granddaughters are in love with the originals, too. They do not care for the revised books, and this really pleases me because I think the writing was much better in the original books. The only problem will be which get granddaughter gets which book when I am finally ready to pass them on. The girls actually like for us to read together. Such fun and I couldn’t be more pleased. Scoutie the Bunny is adorable. Hope you finally get some warm weather. I will be interested in the Nancy Drew books you are able to collect. Good luck.
Lucky you, Dottie. I don’t know anything about the revised books. Is that a recent thing?
Claudia,
What a great post! You really brought out the memories for people and their memories help others jog their memories. I devoured Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton and Hardy Boys. No one in my family enjoyed reading for pleasure; I was the first. I took Little Women on vacation from Oregon to Southern CA one summer and refused to get out of the car to drink water or go to the bathroom. I cried when Beth died. I read that book many times after. In grade school I read all the fantasy and fairy tale books the library offered. My teacher thought I had lost touch with reality, so they said I could only check out biographies. LOL I read every biography in that little grade school library.
I try not to collect anymore, but I used to collect small containers (tiny boxes of every shape and size). My theory was that every container should contain a treasure, so every tiny box I had contained something, even if it was a special button or a dried rose or an old key or a foreign coin; it had to hold a treasure. That was a fun collection.
Thank you for the memories.
Sandra
Your story about not wanting to get out of the car is the best! Nothing better than to be so immersed in a story that you simply can’t leave it.
Do you still have your tiny boxes full of treasures?
Claudia, Scout was cooperative with those bunny ears, don’t you think? You captured some wonderful photographs this go-round. What a sweetheart.
Ahhh, Nancy Drew. I never owned any of them but borrowed every single one from the library. Brought them home in my bicycle basket.
I can’t be the only one here who fantasized about driving around in a blue roadster like hers. She was the epitome of glamour to the nine-year-old me. She was the “It” girl.
Oh goodness, the very word – roadster – was exotic and wonderful. I absolutely fantasized about driving my own (someday) roadster. She was definitely the IT girl, Nancy.
I think half the fun of collecting is the thrill of the hunt. I loved Nancy Drew books while growing up. Read every one of them.
You nailed it. It is indeed the thrill of the hunt, Melanie.
I haven’t looked for any for a while, but I was like that with the red cover Cherry Ames books … finding the ones to add to what my Mum had given me ….
When I was a little girl, I went through a period where I would only check out books with red covers from the bookmobile.
I also bought Nancy Drew books when I was a young teen. They were 25¢ at that time, going up to 50¢ later and I had them all. I don’t today and wish I had saved them for my great grand girls, who at 5 and 3 are avid readers, but I’ll find some for them and buy them BTW, our granddaughter told us we’re expecting another grandchild in October and it’s their 3rd girl. You cannot imagine how over the moon we are about that. We now have 3 grandsons, 1 granddaughter and with the new one in October we’ll have 3 great grand girls. Life has been good to us as I absolutely love having grands. We’re not rich monetarily but we sure are rich with progeny. It’s more than I ever thought we’d have. I cannot remember a time when I didn’t want to be a grandmother. We are truly blessed.
xoxo,
Connie
Congratulations, Connie! What wonderful news, my friend.
25 cents. Isn’t that amazing?
Nancy Drew started me on the road to mysteries. She was so clever and I wanted to be just like her. I learned to be observant from reading her adventures. Books that have a problem to solve are my favorites. I learned to pay attention to the clues the author leaves along the way in the story. I read every one of Nancy books borrowed from the library. Our town library was my favorite place to be. I remember trying to take out a book that the librarian, an old maid, told me was to “old” for me to read and she refused to let me have it. Ah, memories.
Libraries are full of wonderful memories aren’t they? I encountered a few librarians that wanted to dictate what I could check out, too. But most of them were so encouraging.
Nancy Drew was the best.
Too funny! I’d thought such a thing only happened to me, when the librarian refused to let me check out a certain book, saying I was too young! I would do anything to waltz around her and wait til she was out of the room, then go to the other librarian for check-out! It wasn’t to be a bad kid, but merely that I’d exhausted everything else to read in my reading section, so I wanted something new! On the one hand, how lucky we were that somebody was trying to co-parent us a little bit but I do think there’s something that rises up inside us when told ‘no,’ even when we’re kids…not wanting our choices ‘edited’ !!