A few of my treasures

One of the things I enjoy most about the summer and early fall is going junking on a Saturday morning with Mr. L. Since he's a mapmaker, he knows where he's going, and I just look at the scenery between our jaunts to yard sales and thrift stores.

Now that it's winter, it's the thrift stores that have me coming back. The truth is, I don't enjoy going to thrift stores as much as yard sales because their prices are a lot higher (which is understandable; they've got overhead). But this time of year, it's either thrift stores or NOTHING.

I have a few favorites, and even though times are lean (because A) I'm cheap, and B) do I really need more stuff?), I only buy stuff I think I will actually use or can find a good home for. Take this pretty cup. That was a find. It'snot bone china (which is what I collect), but I'm pretty sure I can find a home for this Made In Japan cup, which I estimate to be 50+ years old and with no chips. The doily was a dime--A DIME!  The store must have really wanted to get rid of them. There was a whole basket of them for a dime each.

Of course, I have a doily problem. I look at all the work that went into them, and can't bear to leave them behind, especially if I think nobody will love them. This creates a problem when you have tubs and tubs of doilies. It's come to the point where I'm going to have to do something about them. Maybe open an Etsy store? But that takes a lot of time. Time I could be writing (or otherwise known as gainfully employed). I'm going to pull a Scarlett O'Hara and "think about it another day."

What I got on another foray was a tiny jewelry box for a buck that's covered with sweet angels. Isn't it adorable?

The top opens, and it's got a little drawer.  The truth is, I really don't need a new-to-me jewelry box ... at least at home, but I thought it might look cute at our family's summer cottage. I have a jewelry box there (a yard sale find), but it's not nearly as cute and ... who says they have to live in the same room?

Here's another shot of it open with a few of my favorite pieces of jewelry.

When entering a shop, I'm often asked ... what are you looking for?  I'm first drawn to dishes, not that I buy many. But I recently acquired a brown transferware bowl (which I was too lazy to photograph). I love brown transferware, and it's not as common (or at least that's my experience) as one might think. I'm also drawn to jewelry ... bracelets in particular. I must have acquired 20 bracelets in the past few years. They don't take up a lot of room, and that's one reason why I like them.

So, what is it you're looking for when the "thrill of the hunt" overtakes you?

I don't want to blow my nose.

Look what the cleaning lady left me. A tissue rose.

Fill a bag with fun!

This summer has been a bust when it comes to junking. Sometimes we only find one or two yard sales. : (

Things didn't look hopeful when Mr. L announced there was only one sale; a bag sale at the local fire hall.  They were weeding out the accumulated donations (and boy, where there a LOT of them) for their upcoming auction. The bag sale items were in boxes laid out on benches--maybe 100 or more boxes, and a couple of tables worth of stuff. Inside their rec hall was "the good stuff."  The local grocery store donated a huge stack of paper bags, and it was every woman for herself!

Unlike most bag sales (which are usually a buck or two to fill a bag), this one had a tier system. $5 for the first hour, $4 for the next, and so on and so on. Five seemed a bit steep, but it didn't take me long to find some pretty cool stuff. Okay, I got some things like junky earrings (who ever heard of smores earrings?) that came with a pierced earring holder, a beautiful handmade Christmas tree skirt (who in their right mind would part with that?), and some jigsaw puzzles, but they weren't the prizes.

First up, I found a couple of Haeger swan vases. Aren't they cute? I already have a couple of swan vases with the same kind of silky glaze, so when I saw these, I knew I had to have them. Like many of the items in the sale, these were donated by an antiques dealer and still had the price on them: $15.



I'm always on the lookout for bone china teacups to give as prizes on my Facebook group page (Lorraine's Perpetual Tea Party -- you can join if you'd like!) I was lucky and found three beauties.
This first one still had the dealers tag on it for $18. It's marked Hammersly, part of the Spode group. I love the shape of the cup. I don't think I have one like that--but I do have a lot of cups with roses on them, so this will be part of my catch-and-release program for one of my lucky readers.



This one is Royal Darwood and features the flowers associated with the Canadian Provinces. What you can see on the left side of the cup is the Prairie Crocus from Manitoba and in the center is the Prarie Lily from Saskatchewan.



This one is Royal Vale made by Ridgway Potteries Ltd.



Then I came to the animal section ... I am an absolute SUCKER for animal figurines. (Really, I have to fight it.) Here's a donkey who got separated from his manger. (He's about ten times bigger in this picture than in real life.)



I saw this little guy and grabbed it fast. It's not for me, but my neighbor, Ian, who is 7 years old. He's nutso-bananas for seals. He knows a lot more about seals than anybody else I know and he wants to be a marine biologist. I think he's going to make it, too. He's a wonderful little boy who is very generous with his hugs.



My mother-in-law had three ducks that looked like this (only nicer). When she went into the nursing home, my sister in law got them (as she should have), But now I have a duck that will remind me of my MIL. (Mr. L, too -- because those ducks were around since he was a kid.)



Look at this gorgeous glass compote. Honestly, do I EVER use anything like this? Not usually, but -- when I went to the public market, I bought bananas. Guess  where they will end up? Yes! in this compote with a mountain of Redi wip on the top. (I've got too much on my plate to make homemade whipped cream.)  I appreciate glassware a lot more since I read about Susan Branch's collection. (Someone gave her a banana holder as a wedding gift, and that got her started.)



This hand-painted sugar and creamer has a German company on the bottom. Will have to get our my magnifying glass so I can read the name and research them. They're not bone china, but they are pretty.



I got three of these ... ornamental thingys. I have no idea where they're going (yet), probably over a door, but I'll figure it out eventually.  They're not old, as they're made of resin, but they look old.



And that was it. (Who could have thought you could GET this much stuff in a paper shopping bag?) As I paid the fireman, he said, "Now wasn't that worth $5?" I had to admit, he was right. Then he said, "Why not come back later?"  I figured no way -- I mean, I'd already been through all the boxes, right?

Wrong.  Mr. L took me to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants just down the road and on the way home, we stopped at the fire hall once again. By then (about 4 hours later) the boxes really had been emptied, and because the stuff had all been just shoved in, a lot of pretty things (some of them quite old) had been broken. But ... I still managed to find some more treasures.

I saw this Made In Japan couple the first time through and figured somebody would scoop them up. Nope. I looked carefully to make sure they hadn't been broken, and miraculously, they were still in pristine condition--not even a chip on them. They're going to live in my office at our cottage. Just think of how much joy they will have perpetually dancing away the hours while I work on my books and look out at the water when my muse deserts me.



This little etched glass is the sole survivor from a liqueur set. I don't think you could get more than a couple of tiny sips out of it. It stands about 2 inches high. I've tried to imagine my characters drinking out of it -- Angelica could pull it off, as could Katie or Kathy. (Anissa would NOT have the patience.)




 I found another cup and saucer, but it's not bone china: it's ironstone. But as one of my FB friends said, she isn't a cup snob and I can't think of anybody who wouldn't want to drink tea out of this pretty cup.



There's no hallmark on the back of this sandwich plate, but I could see myself eating a piece of the zucchini bread I made (and froze) last week on it. What would you serve from it?



And because Mr. L and I are eating a lot of fresh salad (growing my own lettuce and herbs this summer), and it seems like we use less dishes so the dishwasher isn't running as often. So having another salad bowl would be handy. It's not old, but it is pretty. We already used it and made a BIG salad. Yum!



To fill up the bag, I tossed in all the lonely doilies, linen napkins, and hand-embroidered dresser scarfs that nobody wanted.  I can't bear to think of the work that went into them being tossed away. It's a very sad thing that very few people today value the work that goes into hand-crafted items. That's why I still have a garage filled with things my Mum and Dad made because I can't sell them for pennies on the dollar.

Look at the sweet daffodil someone embroidered. And even more impressive is the lace/crochet/tatting (?) surround.


So that was my junking for the week (and probably the best of the year). I hope you liked the pictures. What do you look for when you junk?

Paying it forward ... with chocolate!

Today is usually Pet Peeve Thursday where I (or a friend) is given free reign to kvetch.
Not today, because yesterday Mr. L and I were the recipients of a lovely gesture.

We'd gone to the grocery store to stock up on life-sustaining supplies (you know, the usual: cornmeal, gunpowder, ham hocks, and guitar strings).

As the woman in front of us finished her transaction, she turned to Mr. L and handed him a heart-shaped box of Valentine chocolates and said, "Have a happy Valentines Day."
Flabbergasted, Mr. L said, "What?"  And again she said, "Have a happy Valentine's Day," and walked away.

Whoa!  How lovely was that?

Instead of paying it forward with chocolate, we're going to pay it forward with a donation to the local food bank and hope if the recipients don't have a happy Valentine's Day, they'll at least have a happy St. Paddy's day.

How do you pay it forward?
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I shouldn't have, but did anyway ...

Last week, Mr. L and I went to beautiful Niagara on the Lake to visit the even lovlier Prince of Wales Hotel for afternoon tea.



IT WAS WONDERFUL!

One of the things I like best, besides the charming ambiance, the delicious food, the nice strong cups of tea, is the china.  I wondered what it was, turned my saucer over, but didn't see any marking.  : (

So there I was last night, flipping through the latest issue of Teatime Magazine and there it was--featured in a story.  Oh boy, you never saw someone flip to the products page so fast in your life.  It said they had obtained the china from Replacements Ltd.

Hey! Over the years I've bought a bunch of china from Replacements Ltd. Of course, I didn't like the price they quoted so I went online to see if I could do better. Damn. It was the same price. Still, I went ahead and ordered ONE cup and saucer.  I love the pattern so much I had to have it so that I can drink my tea from it and think about those lovely afternoons at the Prince of Wales.

What do you think?

What's worse? Cheating on your diet or your budget?

I had a very nasty surprise last fall.  My accountant told me I hadn't put enough money away to pay my taxes.  This year, I'm putting my tax money away first, which means I can't touch it.  It's in the savings account, and that's where it's going to stay until June 15th, September 15th, and for the school taxes due in September.

So, this spring and summer I'm going to be living on a very tight budget.  Guess what?  Living on a tight budget really stinks.  I wanted to buy a new pair of jeans, but I remembered I was on a budget. I really want that new-to-me desk, and Saturday I was prepared to go out and find it.  But then I remembered I was on a budget. I wanted to get another David Arkenstone CD, but then I remembered I was on a budget.

But honestly, don't you have to splurge once in a while?

I was bad.  I splurged yesterday.  I've been thinking about this for years, and just never found what I wanted.  Well, last week a catalog came and there they were, the sheers of my dreams, and on sale, too.  So ... I ordered them.  Now I'm wondering what I'll live without once these sheers arrive and are hanging from my bedroom windows. I might only care when I'm away from those windows and think ... I could go out to lunch if I hadn't bought those sheers.  Or ... I could buy myself those jeans or that CD.

Or I could just shut up and and think, I'm mostly living within my means and be satisfied.  (After all, that's what I've done most of my life.)

That said, I have a feeling I won't be sorry about those sheers simply because they're pretty, they were such a good deal, and the sheers hanging from the window are really old and nearly in tatters. (Thank you, cats.)

So, what have you splurged on recently?
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I can now be taken out in public!

Well, it's about time I spiffed up.  I mean, I do have a book signing to go to in a couple off week.  (I'll be signing The Walled Flower.  If you're in the Rochester, NY area -- maybe you can come and say "HI!")

Now, I hate to dress up, but in the past couple of months, I've invested in several scarves. I have a really pretty purple and gold one (it shimmers), silver, a black-and-white floral.  I even have a few knitted ones. (The one I made myself convinced me that my knitting days are over, thank you very little Mr. Carpal Tunnel syndrome.)

But what do I know about wearing them?  Well, isn't Google just the best thing around.  I found a video to help me out.  (Although, come on -- NOT choice No. 3.  The woman looks like she's trying out to be the bow on a Valentine's Day gift.)

So far I've successfully worn one of my scarves once. I mean, I went to a party and nobody laughed. In fact, a couple of other women were wearing very nice scarves. I felt like I belonged (and believe me, that doesn't happen very often).

Do you wear scares to spiff up?

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous this aint!

Recently one of my ex-co-workers responded to a Facebook post where I talked about the upcoming release of The Walled Flower.  (okay, can you blame me?  It's one of my favorite topics right about now.)  In it she said, "I know somebody famous."

Wait a minute.  Me, famous?

No, no, no.

I'm not even a celebrity (and when you consider that people like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian get to be celebrities by appearing in sex videos -- no thanks, that's not the life I'm looking for).

Let's face it, even in my Lorna Barrett persona (my best known name), I couldn't walk into a Starbucks in Rochester, NY and get a free cup of Joe by pulling the fame card.  "Who?" they say, squinting at me and taking in my faded jeans (they got that way by years of wear, not by paying an exorbitant price.  And besides, I don't drink coffee.)

I've always heard it's better to be rich than famous.  I think that must be true, but about now, I'm wondering how to get to the rich part.

And if I was rich, what would I do with all that money?

Well, first off, I'd get a brand spanking new kitchen.  I have a TINY kitchen (and worry that future prospective buyers will bolt when they find out it's so tiny there's no room for even a bistro table and chairs), but I don't even want granite counters, and stainless steel appliances.  Nope, just some new counters (Formica is fine with me) and reface the cabinets.  Oh, and replace the slippery-when-wet ceramic tile with one that has a little texture.

A new car.  Not a Caddy or even a BMW ... nope.  A Town and County minivan with stow-and-go seats.  Don't even need extra BRDs (beverage restraint devices) because I use both hands to drive (and, as mentioned above, I don't drink coffee).

I could give more money to charity if I had more to spare.  My favorite charities are:  Crackerbox Palace farm animal rescue (a lot of people see farm animals as expendible.  Well, I don't. They deserve a long and happy life just like cats and dogs), The Wayne County Humane Society (I'd give to the one in my own county, only they are well funded--Wayne County has a lot of poverty, and not enough $$$ to spay and neuter, etc.) and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital (although I'd feel a lot more comfortable giving them more money if they laid off sending stuff out like stickers and calendars and stuff and just used the money I send to CURE KIDS OF CANCER!!!!!).  I'd also give more to my local Food Pantry.

Okay, I MIGHT buy a few bracelets and earrings, and a couple of 1950s Christmas figurines that cost more than a buck each (my garage sale limit).  But other than that . . . .

What would you buy if you had unlimited funds?

Taking a Day Off

Tuesday I took the day off.  Believe me, after the summer I've had, I needed a day off.

Mr. L and I drove across the border to Niagara-on-the-Lake, a lovely little town on the Niagara River.  While my fictional village of Stoneham, NH doesn't look much like NOTL, I wish it did. (And I'm coaxing it, I'm coaxing it.)  By the way, if you click on the pictures, you should see bigger versions of them.


Our first stop, the Prince of Wales Hotel for afternoon tea.


The tea room was gorgeous.  We could have sat at the outer edge to watch the people on the sidewalk go past, but chose instead to sit "inside" and enjoy the lovely tea room itself.



The tea came out first.  Isn't this lovely china?



And next came the most delicious and fattening food . . .


After lunch, we walked around the town and just took in the lovely homes and other sights.


I think Mr. Horsey would have preferred to be standing in a meadow in the shade instead of pulling tourists on a hot day.


All in all, it was the perfect day.

Have you had a perfect day lately?
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Where'd I see that picture?

So there I was with NOTHING to read.  Oh, there's an old issue of Coastal Living, from April 2006, sitting on that pile of magazines in the corner.  (I got it at a yard sale for FREE!)  I think I'll read that.  So, I'm paging through it and come to an article about an enclave of cottages to rent on the Maine coast.  (Very pretty.)

Then I got to page 147.  Hold everything!  I turned to Mr. L and said, "I've seen this picture in the last couple of weeks."

He didn't bother to look up from the crossword puzzle.

"In fact, it was in an issue of Romantic Homes Magazine."

Still no reaction from Mr. L.

So I turned to the pile of magazines on the little table between us and sure enough--there it is, the new issue of Romantic Homes and darned if that picture from a 5-year-old-issue of Coastal Living isn't the cover of the current Romantic Homes.

Mr. L says to me, "You do this all the time.  Find a picture in one place, and then go show me where you've seen it before."

He's right.  I remember beautiful pictures on home interiors--and for some reason, I remember where I've seen them--even if I haven't seen it for a while.

Why couldn't I remember more important stuff like where I left my keys or my hat or my glasses?  No, I have to remember pictures in decorating books and magazines.

Has that ever happened to you?

Who's that skinny chick in white?

That was my wedding party -- yup, the whole thing -- 20 years ago today.  (I'm the one second from the right.)

It was the HOTTEST day of the year (which is why the best man and my Dad were holding gin and tonics)--102 degrees.  (They've prediced 101 for tomorrow.)

It was a good day.  A very good day.

I'll miss you, little soap dish

So there I was, typing along, and I heard CRASH! and then the words, "Uh-oh!"

I like old things.  A few years back we ripped out the 1960s double sink in our bathroom, put in an antique chest as a vanity, and gave our contemporary bathroom a little charm from yesteryear.  (See, the cats seem to like it.)

Two of the accessories on my bathroom vanity are antique soap dishes.  Yes, two.  Hubby likes milled soap and I like glycerin soap.  (Although I like his soap, too.  I switch back and forth.)  His soap dish was bought at a flea market in Maine.  It's got pink roses.  Mine was bought at a yard sale in Pultneyville, NY.

Oddly enough, when I bought both of them (years apart) they each came with "sister" soap dishes.  Three of each.  Since I was a vendor in an antiques arcade, I sold the other four, and these different soap dishes have lived quite happily on the vanity.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday was the day the cleaning ladies came.  And they just happened to have two new recruits who were learning the ropes.  Guess who broke one of my soap dishes?

Ya know, there are terrible things happening in this world on a daily basis.  The aftermath of the earthquake in Japan, war in how many countries.  Little kids with no medical care.  A broken soap dish is not a big deal, but for some reason it put me in a funk.  The soap dish wasn't even valuable.  I only paid a dollar for it.  But I loved it!

Later, I told my mother about it and she said.  "You can have one of my soap dishes."  As it happened, years ago I had bought her a brown transferware onion patterned soap dish.  You see, my mother has blue onion dinnerware.  (Guess what?  So do I!  I searched for years for a dish pattern I liked and finally Mr. L said--well, what would you REALLY like, and I said, "My mother's dishes."  Duh!  I got my own set!)





I'm still a little sad about my broken soap dish (today is garbage day--goodbye china chards), but in a few weeks the new one will feel like it's been there for ages.  And it does go rather nicely with the rest of the decor.

By the way, the cleaning lady felt terrible and apologized profusely.  What an awful thing to happen on her very first cleaning job.  I hope the rest of her day went better.

So, what silly thing in your house would you miss if it broke?

For the Girlie Girl in me ..,

By the time A Crafty Killing comes out (in two weeks--GAK!), I'll have been sitting on it for two years since I sighed the contract.  That's a L-O-N-G time to think about the whole series concept.

I admit it, I wrote the book(s) for a number of reasons, but I think the biggest one was because it would give me the chance to potentially write something "girlie."

Ever since I discovered country (or rather eclectic) decorating, I've wanted to immerse myself into pure girlishness.  Not so easy when you've been a tomboy all your life.  And the truth is, I'll never be a clothes horse and I can't be bothered to hand wash my good dishes.  But I like having this kind of stuff and admiring it.  (And I love reading magazines like Victoria, Romantic Homes, etc.


I figured if I ever sold the Victoria Square books it would be a license to be girlie.  Whoo-hoo!  I intend to have fun with this, and since I love most things Victoriana, I've allowed myself to dip my toe into it.

One thing I did was order calling cards.  Talk about restrictive -- they only let you have so many characters per line, so I had to be judicious.  And I wanted them to be generic enough that I could use them for the life of the series, because how the heck am I going to get rid of 500 of them?  So far I've given away zip!  But I am taking them to my book launch on Feb. 5th--so anybody who wants one then can have one.  And I might start adding them to my goody bags.  (Truth be told, when the bags were put together for the book launch--gulp--I forgot about them.)

So what do you think?  What else can I do that's girlie?

Now that's ugly . . .

As reported yesterday, Mr. Landscaper came to visit and brought his Bobcat.  We had talked about getting just the landscaping on the left side of the house removed.  He, and his young helper (son?) went right to work and started ripping out overgrown landscaping.  Once we saw how open it was, we asked him to start ripping out the stuff on the other side, leaving the HUGE rhododendron in the middle.



Okay, first of all, we rarely go in our front yard.  I usually approach the house from the north and to tell you the truth, I knew the landscaping was overgrown, but until I saw this picture, it just never registered.  As Mr. L said upon seeing it, "No wonder we never got any trick-or-treaters."

As we stood in the cold watching all the action, we started thinking about what we wanted for the front of the house.

As I stood there watching, I was reminded of all those episodes of Curb Appeal I've been watching and man, is our house in desperate need of some curb appeal.  It's ... ugly.  We just never knew it because the landscaping was so overgrown.  I mean, even when we bought the house it was overgrown so we never really saw the front.

Man, it's worse than ugly.

I can see a trip to the paint store and the architectural salvage yard in my future.



After Mr. Landscaper left, we stood looking at the rhododendron and thought -- we should have had him pull that out, too.  But I wanted to see it bloom one more time.  Now I realize . . . it's only pretty for one week of the year.  It needs to go.

Over the winter, we're going to think about what we want for both the house and the yard.

In the meantime, how would you make the front of our house look better?

Dazzled by my Duvet

Way back in 1995, Hubby and I took a trip to England and learned the joys of sleeping under a duvet.  My mother had been telling me for years I would like it, but being an obstinate daughter, I didn't listen.

Whoa!  I'm not too proud to say I was wrong.

I was WRONG.  She was right. I loved it.  No more heavy blankets. Just one light and fluffy down comforter to keep you toasty warm on the coldest winter night, and not overly hot on a summer's eve.

I've got two of them and alternate them on the bed.  I must say that the old one, which is pretty lightweight, is still the better of the two comforters.  But they both have the same problem:  the feathers get jammed in the baffles on one area of the bed.  The middle.

Why is it that a couple buys a king-sized bed because they want to sleep in comfort and then allow their pets to sleep with them.  It wasn't my idea.  For the first half of our marriage we were happily pet free at night.  But then we got George the tiny terrorist, who beat up all the older bigger cats and the next thing you know, the cat he beat up the most was in bed with us, because that's the only way he was safe.

Sadly, George was my one cat failure.  No matter what we tried, he would NOT fit in.  So we found him a forever home with a wonderful lady and her resident cat, who George has not attacked in the six years they've lived together.  Go figure!

But now that Chester was ensconced, we left the door open at night should he hear the call of nature.  And now we have THREE cats sleeping with us.  Here we two humans are forced to cling to the edges of the bed while three cats sprawl out wherever they please.  And since all the feathers in the duvet seem to end up in the middle, that's where they are most comfortable.

So, come winter, I tend to bring a big beach towel to bed with me, because at least 1/4 of me is not going to have any of that warm and (somewhat) fluffy
duvet and what I do have does not have any feathers and I feel like a Popsicle.

No yogi gave me a mantra, but I have one anyway:  I love my cats.  I love my cats.  I love my cats . . .

And everything will go smoothly . . . NOT!

Yesterday morning, I hit the road before 7 a.m. and headed to our family's summer cottage.  After thinking about it for five or six years, it was time for our bathroom to get a facelift.

The contractor and son showed up about half an hour late, but that was okay--as they had originally intended to start today.  Everything was going to go just as planned and the refit would be done by Thursday.

Okay, that was the dream.  The demo went fast.  Off came the old paneling, off came the old medicine chest (which had a light incorporated into it).  First fix, adding a plug.  (The old medicine chest also had a plug on it -- way up high, difficult to use because you couldn't SEE it.)  First problem, no ground.  A plug within five feet of a sink needs a ground fault interrupt (is that right?).  Off to the store to buy wire. (While that happened, the old wallpaper got scraped from the walls.) Next thing you know, holes being drilled, wire being strung.  Two hours later -- a plug that works and we won't get fried.

Lunch break--lunch break!

 In the afternoon, we looked at the mold on the wall from the sweating toilet.  I knew that toilet was a problem, but I didn't know HOW much of a problem.  Turns out there's an easy fix--IF I want the toilet to wear a sweater for the rest of its life or IF I can find a styrofoam insert to go in it OR if I can fashion an insert out of stryofoam myself.  That's for another day.  But we don't want mold on the drywall or to undermine the new floor (when it goes down).

Next up, framing in the new medicine chest (the old one was horizontal, this one is vertical), and adding the new light fixture, or at least putting in a new junction box.  Oops--major 2 x 4 in the way.  Smiling contractor says he'll find a way to get it in there.  It only took about 90 minutes.

Late in the afternoon, drywall compound went on the walls.  Contractor left an isolating fan to try the mud.  Why?  Oh, we're on water and the humidity was about 90% yesterday.  (BTW, it DID dry.  At about 3 a.m.)

Refitting the bathroom is kind of a bittersweet thing.  My Dad built the bathroom.  When he bought the place, there was a toilet on a little screened porch.  That's it.  Dad and my brothers added two decent sized bedrooms and converted the toilet on a porch to a real bathroom with a shower.  Dad didn't have a lot of money back then and "it's only a cottage," so the bathroom wasn't exactly pretty, but it was functional. 

Dad didn't like the idea of changing things, so I didn't feel comfortable even painting the bathroom (I had the color picked out six years ago).  Now that Dad's gone, we decided we would replace the paneling with beadboard and paint the wall above it.  It kind of escalated.  Oh, let's put in a plug.  Oh, lets get the new medicine cabinet (which necessitated the light).  And now ... we have to address that sweating toilet.

The original estimate was two-three days.  Now we're looking at four to five.  And if you're wondering why I don't have any pictures, I did bring my camera, but don't have the software on my laptop to download them. 

But I've been asked by Facebook friends to show lots of pix, and I'll probably just upload it all to facebook sometime next week.  I'll keep you posted. 

Is there a room in your house that needs a facelift?
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UPDATE:  Not only was the toilet sweating, but it was cracked, too.  Luckily, Hubby was no the way with some other supplies and he picked up a toilet, too.  So that'll get installed today (thank goodness.  It's a long walk to my neighbor's house in the middle of the night).  And wasn't it nice of my neighbor to let me use her facilities during the l-o-n-g day our bathroom was out of commission.  (Yea, Cindy!)

It seems to taste better when . . .

I'm a tea drinker.  There.  I've said it.
Most days I drink my tea out of mugs.  It's just easier that way.  But sometimes I want to drink it out of a dainty cup.  So I collect bone china tea cups.  I've paid as much as $24 for a tea cup -- but that was when I had a regular day job.  Those days are gone.  So now I look for bargains.

This little beauty (called "Geranium") was just such a bargain.  I got it at a yard sale for a dollar.  Why?  A tiny hairline crack in the cup.  I really, REALLY had to look at it a couple of times before I saw it.  But will that distract from the pleasure of a nice cuppa?  I think not.

On the same day, I came across this coffee mug. I love clunky old restaurant china and have many pieces.  This, alas, is not old, but it was only a dime.  If nothing else, it'll make a nice place to put pens and pencils.

Or I could just put it in the daily mug rotation.

What's your favorite cup/mug for tea (or coffee or cocoa)?

A Dish To Pass

I collect Syracuse China Americana dishware.  It all started when I visited a bed and breakfast in Stowe, Vermont.  They served their magnificent breakfasts on that dishware.  When I saw a piece at a yard sale, I decided then and there that I would like to use the same dishware at my family's summer cottage--a place I've come to call B&B Cottage.

Ah, but finding pieces of this restaurant (think diner) quality china has not been so easy.  In the past 10 or 12 years I've managed to find:

2 dinner plates
14 cake (or sandwich) plates
6 cups and saucers
4 soup cups
1 salad bowl
3 relish dishes
1 coffee mug
2 roll plates
and an assortment of odd-sized plates.

I traveled to the Syracuse China outlet store on a number of occasions, but in all my searches I only found one piece (the salad bowl).  I was told it was no longer a popular pattern and had a limited run.  Since then, of course, the company has folded.  So now my only option is to buy used pieces. 

I bought most of my pieces at yard sales, antique stores, and thrift shops.  I have yet to really look online--mostly because restaurant china is so darned heavy the shipping charges would be out of this world.  (Okay, I did peek on Replacements Inc. (which sells odd pieces of china) and would be a
good source--if I wanted to pay astronomical prices.  That's not my goal.)

I have other dishware (Stoneware--that chips like crazy), but because I so enjoyed my time at that Vermont inn, I long to eat off the same tableware at my own B&B Cottage.  I wonder how long it will take to find/accumulate all these place settings.
Is there something you collect that seems like an impossible dream to find?

Dear Susan Branch

I'm not one to fall for celebrity.  Back in my 20s, I was secretary to a woman who was married to the biggest newscaster in town.  I worked for her for six months before I decided that "Cal-if-or-nia was the place I wanna be" and on my last day the big cheese asked me (after speaking to me every work day for those six months) if I was "the new secretary."

Then I worked for 20th Century Fox for almost six months.  During that time I got to see and meet a LOT of celebrities and downright TV and Movie Stars.  (Including Alan Alda, David Ogden Stiers, Harry Morgan, and even Sigourney Weaver.)  But after my brush with Mr. Newscaster, I was no longer impressed with celebrity.  Which made it a lot easier for me to leave that job and come back home to Western New York.

In my time as a published author, I've met quite a few big-name authors at mystery conferences.  Believe me, I haven't gone out of my way to meet them, either.  I'm always afraid that people whose work I've admired might end up being like Mr. (now fallen from grace) Newscaster (who doesn't even come up with a Google search).  (Take that, Mr. Arrogant Has-Been!)

So why have I been so tickled to make the virtual acquaintance of author Susan Branch on Twitter? 

I've have LONG admired Susan's watercolor-illustrated cookbooks.  The first of her books I received was Christmas from the Heart of the Home (which is now out of print.  Oh, that STUPID publisher. How could it ever deprive the world of the best Christmas cookbook (with lots of extras) that (wo)man kind has ever known? ).

When I first saw that Susan was on Twitter, I was quick to follow her.  But how thrilled I was when I retweeted one of her posts and she thanked me for it.  Me.  Right here.  In backwoods old Western New York!

Since then, we have corresponded maybe six or seven times.  The other day, I commented on one of her Tweets and we went back and forth three times.  Wow!  How wonderful it is to "talk" with someone you've long admired and she was just as nice as I'd always imagined.  (And even more cool--that we'd recently both reread a favorite book.)

I have no illusions that Susan and I will ever be friends.  But I love to hear about what she's working on.  (Like when she posted about finishing her 2011 calendar.)  And I love just about everything she draws and writes.  It it just so cool to have had the opportunity to let her know how much I admire her work. 

Have you "met" anyone online (or in person) who you were really impressed with?