Sunrise.
Sunset.
That sounds like a good title for a song. (I sang it many times at many weddings back in the days when I did a lot of that sort of thing.)
The cupcakes are gone, thank goodness. No more temptation.
It’s a very cold morning but we managed to avoid all the snow you midwesterners got. I trust that it’s melting away rather quickly?
I’ve got lots of things to do, like cleaning up outside and storing everything on the porch that needs to be stored. We haven’t even taken the air conditioners out of the windows yet. Inertia seems to be part of this grieving process. I’m not a complete sloth, but it is definitely hard to get motivated. Crochet? Yes. I’m just about to complete another scarf and I’ll be listing it tomorrow. More yarn is on the way. I’m reading the latest Michael Connelly, but slowly.
We took a drive across the Hudson River yesterday afternoon to visit some antique shops. Just to look, mind you. One of the things I wanted to do on my birthday was to go antiquing and the day got away from us and now that it gets dark so much earlier, we decided to wait until Sunday.
We went into the antique shop where we purchased the one Maxfield Parrish that I own. There were about five of them on the wall – gorgeous, every one of them. (No Dinkey Bird.) But this guy prices his Parrishes a bit too high, I think. Heck, maybe the one we bought was a little pricey. I can’t remember now. After searching on eBay and Etsy, I’m realizing that a good Parrish can be found for less money.
In that same shop I saw these and I posted them on Instagram:
The most beautiful Roseville bookends – in the shape of an open book. They were in flawless condition, not a mark on them. This is the Snowberry pattern. They were priced at $195. I gave a little gasp when I saw them.
A conversation ensued on Instagram. Everyone agreed they were beautiful, but too pricey. I had never seen them before and said that if I had lots of money, I would buy them at that price. Linda loved them and promptly went to eBay, where she saw some listed. I then went to eBay when I got home and saw some listed at a significantly lower price, but often there was a chip or repair. Or only one was available. But there were some pairs that were in pristine condition and they were priced at $140-150 at the most. So, rather than obey an impulse, it pays to shop around. (Although, if you had handed me $200, I just might have bought the two in the photo.)
And I’m not one to pass up a deal if there’s been a repair. I don’t buy for investment purposes but for the pure pleasure of collecting something beautiful that I love.
Linda said she liked Snowberry best in blue. I have one piece in that blue, so Linda, here’s a photo of it:
Roseville’s blue is really beautiful.
I’m such a nut for pottery and china. I can’t resist. Well, I can and do resist, but I’m attracted to it wherever I go, like a moth to a flame. I wouldn’t sell my Roseville or McCoy or my egg cups, but I sometimes look around the cottage at all the china I have amassed and seriously think about selling some on Etsy. The shop is subtitled ‘Vintage and Handmade’ and so far, it’s just been handmade.
I’m thinking about it. But it’s still in the thinking stages.
Happy Monday.
Claudia , I loved the sunset photos. I know you enjoyed being out antiquing with Don. Blessings to you both , xoxo, Susie
I had a nice time, Susie. Thank you!
Oy, the china. I have tons and couldn’t resist it when I acquired it (all vintage). Now a lot of it is in boxes because I have no display space for all of it and have to rotate the patterns. I consoled myself with this stuff while under tremendous work stress, but admit to myself now that *maybe* I can part with some of it. I still like to look, though! Anyway, fall sunsets are the absolute best, next to sunsets over a field of unbroken snow. Glad you had a nice day out.
If I had lots of money, I’d have a storage space just for my china…but that would be silly! It’s hard to part with, Dana, that’s for sure.
Claudia, I love the blue and that vase is so pretty! I have been downsizing many of my collections but so far my pottery and egg cups are VERY safe. In fact while looking at the Roseville on Ebay I happened across a little yellow McCoy bird and got it for a reasonable bid even with shipping. Yellow isn’t usually a color I’m attracted to but since I have several McCoy pieces in that color from the bargain buy of a several piece listing of McCoy it will look good on the shelves with the other yellows and greens. I still love the blue Roseville so who know what might pop in my Ebay next! The book ends are so pretty, but it does pay to shop around. I would ALWAYS rather buy something I see in person but it isn’t always possible. Hope you are having a good Monday. I love your sunrise and sunsets.
hugs,
Linda
No, it isn’t always possible – especially with egg cups & Roseville, Linda. Yay for the yellow bird. I have the white and aqua and every once in a while I contemplate getting the yellow. Have a great day.
Antiquing on a Sunday…sounds perfect! I have a pottery weakness too…and it’s hard to curb, isn’t it? But I also have a weakness for metal wall hangings, and I found a wonderful one, now I just have to figure out how to pay for it! Yes, our snow is melting…,should be all gone by Thanksgiving….then lots of rain is forecasted! We were scrambling around frantically, to put everything away before it snowed…not fun at all. I don’t think we realized how many things had to put away, until we had to do that all at once. But now it’s done. Enjoy your day! ;)
I’ve done that before, Donna, when a snow storm popped up in late October. I ran around like a crazy woman trying to get everything put away!
I would make an offer on the Parrish. If the dealer isn’t there, ask the mall to call and ask for their best price, or offer a little less than you’re finding on ebay. With Christmas coming, they’re more inclined to move something out so they can bring in something new.
Or ask at the register if the mall or individual dealers will be having any sales coming up.
Thanks, Nancy. We did that when we bought from him before. He was only willing to give a very small percentage off. It’s his private collection and he has a lot more of them at home, so I don’t think he’s in any hurry to move his stock.
Beautiful sunrise/sunset Claudia…a beautiful song too…I would love to hear you sing it…Love those antiques!
I don’t know if you’d want to hear me sing it now, Nancy! I’m out of practice!
I’d take my chances Claudia…lol…
Sometimes ” resistance is futile” I collect Quimper, I have had to narrow my collection to only yellow trimed in green with tulip shapes, ( usually it was sold at Macy’s in the 40’s. ) I look at the tea set for six and smile. I am sure I paid too much but had to have. I believe within reason and budget, do things that make you happy. With dishes or in your case pottery you can keep smiling every time you see the piece.
I do, you’re right!
Yes, our snow is melting. We were on the Northern edge of this “storm” and only got about 2 inches or so. I think Madison got about 5 inches, and we are only 25 miles away. But we really never had any accumulation on the roads, as it has been so warm. We are supposed to be near 50* and rain from Wed. on. I am done w/ the snow now. It can be over. It is a 4-letter word, for sure.
Antiquing on a Sunday afternoon sounds wonderful! We had our family Thanksgiving yesterday, so I am also done with that!! It was a fun day, but I am happy that everything is cleaned and put away. Just the leftovers remain!! ? I am fine with that!!
I don’t blame you! I think we’re going to – again – be low-key on Thanksgiving. Maybe not even a special meal!
Do you have a Maxfield Parrish original.?Wow, I am green with envy. I love, love, love his work. If I’m really good, will you remember me in your will? (Although come to think about it, I don’t think that will work, I’ve just had my 70th birthday . lol) Blessings
Original print from around 1910, not an original oil painting, Lesley. That would go for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I am glad that you got out of the house for a while and had a good afternoon. It’s therapeutic and shopping (or browsing) for antiques is one of life’s great pleasures :-)
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
It surely is. Even if you’re not buying anything. It’s fun just to see what’s out there!
Your sunrise/sunset photos are beautiful!
It sounds as if you had a relaxing and enjoyable Sunday. I agree, those bookends are gorgeous.
I hope this finds you a bit more rested.
A bit more. Still having a bit of trouble sleeping, but it’s much better than it was.
Here along the Lake we got the snow you folks in the Valley missed out on. I unexpectedly went out at 9:30 last night to take advantage of a 99-cent any size coffee deal down the street – and got a major surprise when I opened the front door. Giant lake-effect snowflakes swirling everywhere. A trip that normally would have been 10 minutes tops took half an hour as people got their “snow legs” back again – plus there wasn’t a snowplow or salt truck in sight the whole time. Evidently, even the highway department had been surprised. PS – we have just wet pavement now and snow rapidly melting off the grass, as we head for a 60-degree Thanksgiving – yay! ☀️
That was a surprise for sure! Can you drink coffee late at night? I can’t, unfortunately. I have to stop by noon.
I do so enjoy seeing your antiquing ‘finds’ and learning about American painting and pottery.
My daughter collects pink Wedgwood Jasperware which isn’t particularly vintage, but not always easy to find. I just enjoy the china left to me by my mother and grandmother. Some of it is very old, but I like to use my things. I always think tea somehow tastes better served in a nice cup and saucer.
I think you’re right, Barbara. And my grandmother would agree with you! She loved her tea in a pretty cup and saucer. (She collected them.)
I did a little antiquing myself this past week, mostly to price out some things because I’m in the same boat; I’ve got all this ‘stuff’ and it’s too much, inherited from too many relatives. I must have 150 pieces of the most-common Franciscanware pattern called Desert Rose (from my auntie, the 1940s-1950s era, I think); the antique shop had ONE (small) divided dish in Desert Rose for $50 which I thought was exorbitant. I really don’t know how to unload this stuff; I don’t do eBay (maybe I should). The antique shop also had a pristine Reed & Barton wood flatware box (not scratched up) of silverplate…I didn’t count forks, knives, etc. to see if it was service for 6, 8, 12 or whatever…but, $150. I have several of these ‘boxes’ from all the aunties, Mom, a friend…I don’t use any of it. I did when I was single and didn’t have a dishwasher…but, once I got married and speed was the thing in a busy life, the plate silver just became impractical; and I ruined some of it by indeed (stupidly!) putting it in the dishwasher. (Cannot believe I did that.) Tried to sell it to a shop once in the 90s and they’d only give me something like $30; service for 8. Sigh. I’ve got to figure this out and what I’m going to do; I think your Etsy shop would be a good way to go for you except that it must be hard to ship out breakables. My husband’s aunt sent us a lot of Roseville of his grandmother’s about 20 years ago…had it professionally packed…and some of it still arrived broken although many pieces were already cracked and broken pre-shipment (Roseville was loved and used by Granny, I think!).
We have a gorgeous blue-turquoise piece but I’ve never seen that Roseville lighter blue and I’ve definitely never seen bookends; what a treat; thank you for posting them today. If I ever get my house unpacked from endless moving/remodeling, it will be so enjoyable to once again display our Roseville. Some of the pieces look so art deco to me and I’m wondering if they date back further than I think, to maybe the 30s. I seem to remember coming across images of the Laurel pattern which definitely was from the 30s and looks like a couple of pieces we have…I need to revisit and study our Roseville again; I love it! You’ve sparked/renewed my interest! And I hadn’t known of Roseville at all back in the day…but Mom, bless her, knew of it (she was so into vintage and collectibles; wish I’d absorbed more of her knowledge). She just never bought any for herself as she was so frugal, admiring only from afar. Although, I think at the time, one of the reasons why Roseville was so prevalent in the 30s-40s was because it was indeed more affordable for the average hostess, no? Granny was by no means a person of any kind of wealth to have so many pieces; we were gifted with about a dozen, but there was more which went to other family members.
Your sunset photos are stunning. Enjoyable to see; thanks! I haven’t seen a good sunset lately. We just got so hot again, in the 90s yesterday although we’re ten degrees cooler this afternoon. Skies have been sorta blah. But the Santa Anas do clear things up.
I think those art deco Roseville pieces were definitely manufactured earlier than the flowery ones I collect. I think Roseville, like McCoy, was very affordable at the time, made for the average housewife, if you know what I mean. I’m sure those ladies would be astounded by how much the pieces go for nowadays. You must get that collection out of the boxes, Vicki! How wonderful that you inherited some lovely pieces As far as I know, no one in my family had any Roseville – wish they had!
That’s what’s holding me back – the breakable factor. Seems like a lot could happen even with the best packing.
As careful as my husband and also professional movers have been with packing, I seem to always wind up with broken stuff, especially pottery. This is unrelated, but something that’s been bugging me a lot lately is stubbed-end (brand-new!!) books I’m getting from Amazon due to poor packing and outer boxes with not enough board strength to hold up to heavy handling by carriers (i.e., the books slip around too much in the box, I think…). For what books cost, I expect them to come to me in perfect shape.
I’m sure I relayed the story about my husband’s Roseville, from Granny. The poor man was so dismayed to see the state of it when it arrived, pretty broken-up into pieces from whatever the course of its life had been since he’d seen it on Granny’s mantle and on her shelves when he was a child. I know it’s not the thing to do in terms of authenticity and value, but I took it to a restorer; I had the amazing connection for an amazing couple who did this kind of work (which once even went undiscovered after a piece had been taken to an Antiques Roadshow type of event…the repairs/restoration not even detected by experts). Some of this Roseville collection of ours couldn’t be of any use (or beauty for the eye) in the received state, so repair was better than throwing it away, which was what my sad husband felt was in order. I’m telling you, some of the clay was all but pulverized and I don’t know how these people did the work…they’re gone now; passed on; had much experience and technique/skill…but the repairs are virtually seamless and I don’t regret a penny spent although, man, when I look back on it, I paid a fortune for that rehab work. My husband seeing it ‘restored,’ though, was priceless. Yes, you’re right; it’s high time it gets out of boxes and back into our daily life.
Ha! I know what you mean about pottery and dishes – I sometimes feel like I need someone I could call who would talk me down from the pottery and china purchasing binges I sometimes go on. And linens…vintage and brand new….I am a sucker for them. Well, I could call my husband to talk me out of buying something but where’s the fun in that? I change my dishes all of the time and try to use them all…mixing and matching all of the time. xxoo
I just wish I had more storage for all the pieces I have and want to have. I run out of places to put everything!