Collecting...and an Acquisition

One of my favorite quotes is by William Morris: 

 

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

I think for the most part I try to live by that. As I was eating lunch and thinking about what I was going to write, my first thought was to start with the caveat that I am not a collector.

But then I thought about the things that I like:

• vintage Pyrex, especially bowls
• ironstone platters and pitchers, etc
• creamers
• vintage linens
• Universal pottery Laurella dishes
• mid-century teak furniture
• interesting crockery

and I discovered that I am, indeed, a collector.

My hesitancy in labeling myself as such is that I really desire to be less bound up by possessions and things and to truly only have useful items in my home; and I like to delude myself into thinking that I am not a hoarder.

Also, the minute you start collecting something, invariably one of your friends will see that rooster you have on your kitchen counter, finds rooster salt and pepper shakers at a store, and buy it for you because they love you and they just know that you love roosters. Then another friend sees a rooster metal sign and gives it to you for your birthday.  Now, instead of just having that one awesome rooster that you found at the thrift store for $2 and thought was adorable (and you could easily dispose of when you tired of it)....you have the beginnings of a whole tacky collection.

Anyway, the point of this is....well, there is no point, just some thinking aloud. On to the acquisition.

When my mom was visiting at Christmas, we headed to the town of Snohomish and spent a very nice hour in an antique mall while my wonderful stepdad napped patiently in the car. As we were shopping, we were talking about the amount of Franciscan dishes that we see in the area, usually in the same few patterns (a lot of Desert Rose and Apple Blossom), but that I never see the pattern that I grew up with, Bird 'N Hand. I think my parents may have received this as a wedding gift, as it was only made from 1968-72. Perhaps it wasn't terribly popular, I don't know and that's why we don't see it. I do like it's simplicity, white with a black line drawn trim.

I mentioned to Mom that I would like to find a usable piece to have. She has a platter, but it is white with black trim and no design. I have kept my eyes open for years for a useful bowl or something.

Not more than 10 minutes later, a beam of heavenly light shone from above and brought my eye to the last remaining Franciscan Bird 'N Hand pitcher in existence. That may be a slight exaggeration, but I doubt you can prove otherwise.

And so I now have a piece of my childhood dishes. But I will not be collecting them. Never mind that I immediately went home that same evening and found a creamer on Etsy. And then ran into another creamer (for $3!) at the Goodwill last week. But I am not collecting them.

I think I shall consider myself a conservator. Doesn't that sound better?

Winner, Winner....

When it comes to decorating, I have definitely been gifted (if I do say so myself) with my mom's eye for eclectic styles, furnishings and colors. If asked what color my decor is....I have no idea what to say. There is a bit of everything. Nothing appeals to me less than the 7 piece matched set of livingroom furniture.

Last fall, mom and I were wandering around an antique store in Mount Vernon. My eyes found a striking mid-century chair.

"Come look at this chair, mom!"

She replied from the other end of the loft, "I found a chair I like, too."

And she had. The mate to mine.

But guess what! I live here and she doesn't...so they are living with me!

I love the simplicity of the danish modern styling and the fun cutout on the back. Joe picked out the new fabric for the cushions, and I added fresh foam.

As I write this, I am thinking that too much gloating might be a bad idea. Since the great chair arm-wrestling tournament, mom has found a simply gorgeous sideboard that just would not fit in tne overhead bin on my flight back home.

Oh well. You can't win them all.

Quote of the Day: Jack London

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
~Jack London

Mom and I have been  dealing with this all week, and we are going to have to buckle down today to get-er-done. She has been working on the most beautiful gourds, and we are going to create an etsy shop for her (sparrowinthetree.etsy.com) but need to crack the whip on taking pics and doing our visual layouts for her future photos. So we shall go after that inspiration with a club...right now.

A Fitting Project

I have mentioned before how artistic my mom and her siblings are. She made these little clay hearts years ago, and we pulled them out earlier this week as part of a test to see how her focus and creativity had come back. This was not our intended project, but I ended up putting these necklaces together. It seems like a fitting tribute to her recovery.

The Wall

Well, it had to happen. Mom hit the wall. Yesterday was the energy day. She wanted (understandably) to escape the house, so we went to the library for chick flicks. (Les Miserables, Calendar Girls, The King's Speech) Then, she wanted lunch. Are you up for it? Oh, sure. So we hit Chick-fil-A, yet another first on my culinary venture here in Arizona. Yummy. Then to the grocery store. Which is going out of business. Which means everything is on sale. Which means mom was in there wandering around a whole lot longer than she had any business doing.

So today we have been taking it easy. I did drag her to the park. In my defense, it's a short walk, and she's supposed to be walking. Then back home to watch Julia Child videos on you tube. If you haven't seen Julia (we're buddies) on David Letterman, watch this. Unless, of course, you had open heart surgery a week ago. Then it will hurt to laugh.

So she's back in bed. Wiped out. Not understanding why she's weepy. My goodness! She has no idea how strong she has been, and how incredibly well she is doing. I've seen a lot of post surgical patients, and I don't know of any who have done better than her.

I need to keep reminding her that post-procedure, today might not be better than yesterday, but next week will almost certainly be better than this one!

The Artist in the Family

I have quite an artistic heritage to live up to. My mom, Julie, has always been creative and talented. She sews, quilts, refurbishes absolutely useless pieces of furniture into something fun and usable, scrapbooks, and has a great eye for decor and design. Last winter, while wintering in Arizona, she learned to take a simple gourd and make it into something lovely.

This one is mine. She won't let me have it yet, though...she wants to show it to her siblings first. But it's mine. And they can't have it.

It's the smallest of the three, but I chose it because I love the turquoise, and that she used pine needles from her own yard to create the trim.

Mom was pleased to find the shell adorning the front of this one during her last trip to Washington. It was conveniently pre-drilled by nature.

The one  below is a gift for my aunt. This gourd is the largest. It has leather trim and sweetgrass around the top. And elk teeth. Aunt Jo will love it.

Gorgeous!



I Suppose Introductions are in Order

This is my granddaughter, Amelia. Beautiful, of course, like both of her parents. I love you guys.

 Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD

My Childhood Home as I Know it is Gone....(subtitle: a trip to the ER)

Lest you think I am terribly sad...I am so relieved for my Dad's sake that it is sold! Now he is so fortunate that he will not have a mortgage payment at all. How many people can say that!?

Of course, the last weekend at the house was full of work, lots of work, cleaning, last minute closet and garage emptying after 36 years of accumulation, and detail projects that had to be done.

After the last bit was put on the trucks, we had a small 5 minute project to tackle. Really, it should be easy to install a new spring on the garage door. Until an 8-foot flourescent light fixture came down on Dad's head. Right in the middle of the bald spot. And shattered. Thank goodness he listens to me. I took one look, said "Oh, now we get to go to the ER" and he didn't even give me an argument. For once. They removed a 3/4 inch shard from his head and put 6 staples in to the 2-inch laceration.

He's fine. A bit of a headache. But also relieved to be done with the house!

Completed Chairs and Other Stuff

Here they are! My mom did a gorgeous job on the slipcovers. We broke them in tonight with my guy, his momma and his aunt. I'm so happy with how my apartment is coming together.
The kitties are both settling in, and since mom is leaving tomorrow, I will really begin my nesting too. I'll post more pictures as I add new things and work on new projects! So far my sewing has been limited to a couple of these pillow covers (mom did the other two!).

Wishing I Could Feel Guilty...

I am sitting here in the new apartment, listening to Mom as she is working on reupholstering my two dining room chairs. It's 1120 pm, and we had a nice dinner and coffee with my prodigal son and his girlfriend. But here is mom, back at the place, plugging along on the sewing machine.

I bought the two chairs a year ago at IKEA, because they were on clearance (for $20 a piece), and are a nice shape, and, after all, how hard can it be to get slipcovers or reupholster them? Oops. No slipcovers available...so "hey Mom, can you do my chairs while you are here?". She should have said "no". I think she's put in about 12 hours on them. They look great, and they aren't even done. But they will be wonderful. I have great faith in her.

She probably wishes she'd put her foot down...but oh, I can't even feel a bit guilty!

Pictures to follow (if she ever finishes them!).