Open Season On Junk and Vintage Treasures

Ah, the thrill of the hunt.


Lately I've been into this big time, looking for the odd and the beautiful,
in the nooks and crannies of New Jersey and beyond.
This week, my searches brought me to wild and woolly Pennsylvania on Friday, all over God's good earth (aka New Jersey) on Saturday, and today?  It's into the untamed wilderness of Bergen County.

Sometimes I bring home the oddest strays.

Welcome to a Sunday Favorites post at That Old House.

This one was first published in August of 2010.

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(August 31, 2010)
We stopped at my brother's on Saturday night, on our way home from the beach house.  He and his wife have sold their Long Island home and are packing the camels and heading their caravan off across the desert, aiming for North Carolina.

Their new house is smaller than the house they are leaving, and that's why every once in awhile
I get a call from him:  "Hey, Cassy, you want the . . . .?" and I nearly always say, "Yes."

The latest thing -- an old oak office arm chair that our Mom painted
about 40 years ago, for the original Southold beach cottage.

She painted it glossy yellow.

Really yellow.

School Bus-Yield Sign-Crime Scene Tape-Screaming Yellow Zonkers Yellow.

This is the woman who, back in the early 1960s, painted the walls in our tiny summer bungalow kitchen in a tasteful pale creamy yellow, thereby lulling my father into a false sense of security.  She then painted the 1910-era table and chairs in brilliant watermelon pink and deep green, and slathered pink paint on the old  refrigerator too, just for good measure.

Mama was not shy about color.
I am still scarred by memories of her raspberry bathroom.

This chair's paint is showing its age.

There's a big chip on the back and scads of little bitty chips elsewhere.

My brother Lindy thinks I will strip this chair and restore it to its oak-y dignity.  He is delusional.

I think it needs a new and gnarly paint job, don't you?  Color ideas?

It's going to live at our desk, where I blog if I'm not using the laptop.

The chair is perfect -- comfy, and it makes me smile.

(Update from Nov. '11 -- the chair is still in its original yellow paint, and I'm sitting in it right now.
Right at this desk.  With a bright orange coffee mug on the left.)

Odd things do make me smile.
Like the next two thrifting finds . . . a pair of -- ummm -- lamps.

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When we were out at the beach house back in May, we went to a flea market at the

Museum Houses in Cutchogue.  I snagged two table lamps.

I say "snagged," as if I had competition for them.  I did not.

I think even the seller was surprised that I took them.

They are . . . interesting.

These babes are tall.  36-inches to the tops of the harps.

There are two lamps, but I only photographed one of them.  They are identical, and both are in perfect shape.

Loaded with painted, gilded, and molded detail.

Help me out here, folks.  What the heck are these?  They are not new, that's for sure.

Former oil lamps?  Buffet lamps?  Rococo?  What would you call them?

I haven't decided the fates of these old gals.

They may end up on either side of the high 4-post bed in the pink guest room,

where they are tall enough to shed light on a book being read in bed.

Or, they'll get listed on eBay and I'll leave them to their fates.

(Nov. '11 update -- I need to learn how to rewire lamps; these are still in storage.)

They do have a certain quirky charm.  Well, I think so, anyway.

The rest of my family is of another mind.

Annie and I sniffed out yard sales while we were at the beach house this past weekend.

At one house sale I bought this:

A 20-year old Fitz and Floyd bowl.

It's about 8 inches wide, about 3 inches deep.  Nice size.

I think it has a neat, woodsy, log-cabin-in-the-Adirondacks sort of look to it.

At another house sale, I found 5 old lamps, all porcelain, of odd and old
designs and shapes and colors and I was sorely tempted to buy them,
but my daughter Anne wisely shot me with an elephant tranquilizer gun
and dragged me away.  A narrow escape indeed.

 . . . sigh . . . . 

You always mourn the ones that got away.

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Thanks to Chari of Happy To Design for hosting the lazy lady blogger's favorite party --

Sunday Favorites.  Go visit, and see what other bloggers have dredged up from their past lives

to feature on this sunny Sunday.  Click here to visit!

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Well, at least it is sunny here in New Jersey.

And after Howard comes back to earth after his flying lesson today, we are picking up another

Craigslist find.  We had good luck on yesterday's hunting trip, including an unexpected treasure.  

There is a method to my madness.  Really, there is.  Enjoy the day! -- Cass

Thursday Frolics

Okay, the title is misleading.
I'm afraid there will be no frolics.
I am back at That Old House and she is not in the mood for frolics.
She is being rained on today, and she doesn't much like that.

But yesterday, out at the beach house, I got up crazy early

to capture this picture of dawn just for you.

And then I went back to sleep, and captured this picture

a few hours later -- sun dancing on the water.

Those white things across the creek are not geese; they are sparkles from Old Sol.

Once we were both up and conscious,

Anne and I grabbed coffee and breakfast sandwiches to-go at

 Erik's Cafe on the North Road (highly recommended, thanks to sister Peggy for the tip)

and then we buzzed east to Greenport to a beach I used to take my girls to when they were heartbroken

over being excluded from a Daddy-and-Pop-Pop He Man Woman Haters Club fishing trip.

Just trying to minimize future time on the analyst's couch for my offspring.

I meant to take pictures of the beach, and the view across to Shelter Island,

but Erik's sandwich distracted me.  My bad.

Then it was back to the beach house, where we made sure the hatches were all battened down

in preparation for the expected visit of a rather nasty customer named Irene this weekend.

I blessed the house as we were leaving, and also left a Wise Old Someone in charge;

you will meet him tomorrow.

I hope when I tootle out there next week to check on things,

that it all looks pretty much the same as it does in this picture. 

By the time hurricanes hit the Northeast, most of their get-up-and-go has usually got-up-and-gone.

Fingers crossed, for everyone in Irene's path.

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But today is a day for playing with dishes,

not just waiting for storms.

I have reached back through the cobwebs of time, into the virtual attic at That Old House,

and ferreted out my very first Tablescape Thursday post.

It's not terribly impressive; I hadn't a clue what I was doing!

But here it is, from February 25, 2009:

My First Tablescape Post for That Old House!

I am not sure when table settings morphed into Tablescapes, but I'm late to the game. Here goes nothing!

Let's set the stage:
Imagine. . . It's a cold February night in a creaky old house; a fire is lit in the parlor, and in the dining room . . . it's time for a bowl of bubbling hot stew, ladled out of a big tureen onto china that echoes the Chinese Export ware of centuries ago:

A bit of wine adds to the glow. The stemware is a crystal reproduction of an old form;
the same shape wineglass might have been on the table when this house was new.

Nearby, a small cake plate and cup and saucer await dessert; maybe a slice of hot apple pie,
and cup of good strong coffee.

The china is Mikasa Far East, and I bought it nearly 30 years ago at Kaufmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was very into simple "colonial" then, and this was the closest I could get to an antique look pattern that I could afford. Luckily, I still like it, because by now I have service for more than 20.

Lenox made the crystal wine glass, the tureen is Fitz & Floyd,
and the silver ware is my old Ebay flatware. 
Don't look too closely at the folded napkin. It needs ironing and a good soak in Oxi-Clean, but it's such a sweet old linen piece, with lovely hand crocheted edging. I can't remember where I got the small lace topper cloth, but I thought its angles nicely reflected the angles of the dinnerware. Upon reflection, I think I should have used something less busy.

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Well, yes, Blogger Self of 2-plus years ago,
you should have used something less busy. And taken better pics.
Live and learn, and the best way to do that
is to visit more blogs and see how the talented folk do it.  -- Cass

P.S.  Hurricane Irene shares a moniker with my mother-in-law.  Who is also Irene.

But I would much prefer a visit from her than from the big storm that's flying up the coast.

Too bad I don't get to choose; Stormy Irene is coming invited or not!

P.P.S.  And today is my father-in-law's birthday!  Happy Birthday, Zaide!  

Link Parties for Thursday.

Tablescape Thursday at Susan's Between Naps On The Porch.  Click here!

Leigh of Bloggeritaville's Thrifty Thursday.  Click here!

At Coloradolady blog, it's Vintage Thingies Thursday. Click here!

And
it's an Open House Party at No Minimalist Here.  Usually!  But this week,
the Open House Party is hosted by Ann at Sutton Place blog.   Click ... here!

Thrift Store Finds on Three Or More Tuesday!

Thrift shop finds, and a mystery thrift hint!


It is Tuesday, just barely, and I've got a "Three Or More" story, for Tam's blog party at The Gypsy's Corner. Visit here for other tales of Three Or More!

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I have Mary at Little Red House to blame for my new thrift store habit.

No one manages to present and photograph thrift shop finds as well as she. Her ability to make the humblest of items look spectacular reminds me of my Aunt Lillian, who could serve you a wilted lettuce leaf on a piece of tin foil and make you think you were dining at Lutece. Not that Mary's thrift shop finds are wilted lettuce leaves, but you get the idea.


On Sunday, Howard and I sent to the closest Goodwill Industries store. Our first time.

I came home with three things -- nothing valuable, but fun things:


A brass pineapple:

I like the look of old brass, although that might be because I really hate to polish it. It's like my theory that dust is a protective coating for antiques. This little fella will go upstairs to the yellow guest room, to keep company with the pineapple lamp on the bombe chest:

I think there's plenty of room for the brass pineapple on that chest, don't you? Now I need a few more things on there!

The brass pineapple opens up:

... but I don't know what I would put in it! Maybe safety pins in case a guest needs one. :-)

I also found a pretty pink shell dish:
It is from ...

Yup, Fitz and Floyd, from 1982.
It was marked $4, but blue tags were 1/2 off, so ... $2.00.
Sweet.

My sister Peggy has a Tiki Bar in her finished basement; my girls say it is "cheesetastic" and I like finding things to add to the beachy atmosphere. Howard found a light up palm tree, and I gave a funky shore bird statue from Home Goods, with the feet stuck on backward.

This dish doesn't have quite the same bizarre pizazz as our other gifts,
but it will do. I love the shell and coral stuff:

It will do nicely, holding nuts. For nuts.

And then, I found the little tin bucket:
...seen in yesterday's post. It is destined for the hall bath, where it will hold something. I would tell you what, but I don't yet know. The hall bath will get its "reveal" next Monday; I gave some hints yesterday.

The little tin bucket has a cute painted detail, on both sides:

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So that is my story of Three Thrift Shop finds from Sunday.

Today, I visited a hospital thrift shop.

Oh my.
I found something, yes indeed I did.

What is one of the freshest color combinations in home dec?

Here's a hint:

I didn't buy anything at the shop today, but I'll be heading out early in the morning . . . .

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I have been very lax in commenting on people's posts, and I apologize; family matters, but things are settling down. Ah, tomorrow is another day!

Thank you, Tam, for hosting! -- Cass