Friday, June 29, 2012

My 1950s Ranch House, 54 years later.

One of these days I will go through my photos and scan them, but today isn't the day I want to do that.  So no before pictures of the house, just what it looks like this morning.

If you ever wanted to know what a little fir tree would look like 54 years from planting, should you want to plant one...look to the right side of this picture.  It's not my tree, but the neighbors. You can see about two thirds of its total height.  According to one of the neighbors across the street, the original owners next to us planted the trees after the house was newly built.  The story is the wife liked to entertain guests and so to decorate her back yard, she planted small trees in the narrow strip of this corner lot.  The 3-4 fruit trees were taken out by a subsequent owner, but the 3 fir trees continue(d) to grow and grow.  Fortunately the power company took one (farthest from our house) down last year.  Wouldn't mind the others being gone, they block the southern exposure and dump debris onto our roof and into our gutters.  But that won't be done by the current owner.



Front yard today.  We keep it plain and simple.  That is enough work.  The Japanese maple was planted in the mid 1970s.  I've replaced all the doors and had vinyl windows installed.  The red brick facade is original to the house.  I love the old cedar lap siding!
A glimpse of the back yard from the patio.  This was once as bare as the front yard when I purchased the house in the mid 1980s.  We see this portion of the house from the kitchen and family room addition.   To the right is a separate "room", a vegetable and fruit garden.  It's a lot of work, but I love it--my little paradise.  I am dreaming of a deck these days.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Franciscan Ware -- $3 find!

On the same trip to my not so favorite overpriced thrift store that was having the 50% off everything, I couldn't believe that before my eyes was a Duet coffee pot and mug!  (This store never has anything so cool).  Granted the coffee pot is missing it's lid and has that all too well known spout chip found on many vintage pieces, but the mug is in excellent mint condition!  Well, for $2.98, I couldn't pass them up!  They may find themselves up for sale later, but for now I'll just admire them!


Did Someone Say Fire King??? Pyrex???

I hit one of my least favorite thrift stores last Saturday.  They had 50% off everything and I didn't expect to find anything.  I find them to have a lot of junk and be very over priced.  Well slap me silly!  They apparently stocked for this sale and look what I found!!!


Not only did I find these beautiful pink and white gold trimmed Fire King mugs, but I got 6 of them!!!  I'm still dancing and singing over this find  Oh wait, let's not forget...for a total of... $2.94!!



Here are a couple more of the 49 cent Fire King mugs...one is the older 1940s "Ivory".  It is a touch larger and heavy (thicker).  Hubby likes these better for himself than the pink.  A very large custard glass salt shaker, more than I wanted to pay ($2.49), Tupperware measuring spoons (excellent condition in my shade of green) 99 cents, and two Irish linen towels that were previously in an antique store and claim to be hand drawn, 2 for 98 cents.



Last but not least, the Pièce de résistance.  One of my favorite Goodwill stores didn't let me down this trip--this Pyrex addicts one most sought after collections--the primary color refrigerator dish set, for $12!  And in absolutely beautiful condition, hardly a scratch and no chips to the lids!!!  I'm in heaven!

It's happened! My first Eva Zeisel piece!!!

Not only is it my first Eva Zeisel piece, but it is a pattern I absolutely love!!!  And it is a nice BIG piece!  The pattern is called "Lyric" and it reminds me of dancing starfish.  It has my favorite shade of green!  Oh and I shouldn't forget--price $2.99!





Saturday, June 2, 2012

Vintage Textiles and Refrigerator Dish

Hubby felt like going to the thrifts today--so I obliged.  I stuck to my guns and bought only things I would actually use.  I found this embroidered table cloth, perfect for using for tea at the booth.  And I ran into an anthropomorphic embroidered kitchen towel!  I've been tempted to buy some off ebay, but resisted.  I found this one today for 99 cents.  I couldn't resist this Federal Glass 40s/50s refrigerator dish.  It has a relief of two tomatoes and a bundle of asparagus on top.  It's hefty and seamless, love it!