Who Needs Words When You Have Teacups?

I am at my desk in the windowed Study nook,
brilliant sun in my eyes through the matchstick
blinds, and two dogs snoring behind my chair;
a peaceful Tuesday morning.

But my computer keyboard has gone haywire on me, spelling

words such as "Emily" in this manner: Emiiillylyiim.

Really, truly, I am not tipsy.  But perhaps my keyboard is.

At any rate, this is going to be a post short on words,

and long on pictures. 

In fact, I pretty much need just one word: Teacups!

At That Old House, we got lotsa them.  Here are some.

Colclough's Amaretto Rose:

Deep cobalt and gilt cups, from Japan.

Aynsley's Tatton Hall pattern:

Johnson Brother's Indies Blue:

Who hasn't bought Birthday Month tea cups?

This one, February, for daughter Alida.

And July, for daughter Anne.

Wedgwood's Patrician ware, painted in the Bognor pattern:

And except for the birthday cups, which I think we

bought years ago at Disney World,

all of these tea cups were ferreted out at flea markets,

thrift shops, Goodwill, or Ebay.

Pretty and cheap.  My favorite combination.

 Go ahead, put the kettle on. 
And invite me!  -- Cass
If we are lucky, someone else will do the cleanup!

Link Parties for Tuesday

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage, and Tea Time Tuesday.  Click here!

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life -- it's Tabletop Tuesday.  Click here!

At Linda's Coastal Charm blog, it's Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays.  Click here!

Terri at Artful Affirmations is hosting Tea Cup Tuesday.  Click here!

PS  I think I managed to find all of the wacky keyboard typos and boo-boos.
       Please excuse some spacing and other odd copy crazies -- it's the Keyboard, it's not me!

Tea With The Johnson Boys

Blue and White.
Classic.
And nothing's more classic than blue and white china
from England's Johnson Brothers pottery.

About 30 years ago, I fell in love with a Johnson Bros. pattern called Indies Blue,

and bought a service for 8 at Macy's in New York, and added to it over the years.  

It's moved from house to house with us,

and now lives the good life on Jabba The Hutch, in our kitchen. . .

. . .where lots of my blue and white dishes cohabit.

Last week, in a thrift shop a bit south of here, I found an Indies Blue

coffee pot -- a small one -- for a really small price.  Six dollars.  Now it lives here, too.

On this Tuesday, it's come out to pose with its blue-and-white buddies, in a tea time setting.

My $6 coffee pot, come to play at tea time.

Care for a cuppa?

That's it!

Now I can go back to doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and put the Indies Blue back on the hutch.

I've said it before; you're never to old to play with dolls, or dishes. -- Cass

LINK PARTIES!

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage, and Tea Time Tuesday.  Click here!

And ... it's also Tea Cup Tuesday at Artful Affirmations with Terri.  Click here!

It's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday with Linda at Coastal Charm.  Click here!

Thrift Redux on a Summer Sunday

Lazy!  That's me.  I'm repeating a post from August 2009; if you've read it already, go play pinochle or sip a summery beverage while you read a trashy novel.

But if you are in New Jersey, do so indoors

as it's raining cats and dogs today.

(August 18, 2009)

On Friday, I put a bag over my husband's head

and stuffed him into the trunk of my car -- 

I had found out that a thrift shop that's usually excellent hunting grounds

(and which is closed for the summer) was going to be open. For. One. Day. 

We were going.

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As it turned out, Howard had a blast. He found a brand new Gevalia coffeemaker -- the kind the coffee company gives away with its coffee -- with a thermal carafe, and it's perfect for Anne's new apartment. Way to go, Howard. Not worthy of pictures, but ... a good find.

I found more picture-worthy things.

I love white platters.

This one, at $5.00, called my name:

I used it on Sunday for some nibbles for our dinner guests.

They liked it!

On Sunday I also used these wine glasses:

There were 5 of them, $2 each. I bought them for Anne.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But -- luckily, she doesn't like them,

so I think they will stay right here at That Old House.

I love the bubbly glass, the funky shape, the swirly stems, and the colors.

Some are aqua, some more a sea glass blue.

But wait! There's more!

Earlier this summer I brought home some double old-fashioned glasses from the beach house, that my parents used in the 50s and 60s. The glasses have white and gold leaves on them -- very Mad Men -- and every time I look at them, I get the ghostly scent of Scotch.

They are spike heels, shirtwaist dresses with big bouffant skirts, cocktail rings, and Chanel No. 5.
And I found their near-twins at the thrift.

Slightly larger, slightly less gold, but worthy of anyone's mid-century style bar setup.

8 of them. A buck apiece.

And these Annie does like, so off they'll go to her new apartment.

And that's it!

(Except for Howard's favorite story, at the bottom of the post!)

No ironstone, no milk glass, no painted plates, and I resisted an adorable chubby silverplate tea -- maybe coffee -- pot, with "Gimbel Brothers" stamped on the bottom. I wonder if it was used in the restaurant at Gimbel's, or if it was used in the executive dining room?

Bonus Round!

This is Howard's favorite part of our thrifting adventure.
As we were checking out, the petite, elderly church lady volunteer remarked on the aqua blue wineglasses.

"Oh, so summery!" She wrapped the first one.
"Have you tried that new cocktail?" she asked, still wrapping.  "I can't remember the name, but it's got --- " and she paused in her wrapping to rattle off a quite long list of major alcoholic liquids that, combined in a cocktail, would knock an elephant right onto his big floppy ear.

"It's quite delicious," She smiled sweetly, "and it would look just lovely in these glasses!"

Yes, Howard wants to come with me again. This time I won't have to stuff him in the trunk.  -- Cass


P.S.  An update from 2011 -- despite Howard's enjoyment of our thrifting trip and his amusement at the hard-drinking church lady, it's so far the one and only time he's come to a thrift shop with me.  Goodwill doesn't count; he can find guy stuff there!

Link Parties!

Chari at Happy To Design hosts Sunday Favorites, which gives us the excuse to recycle a story.  Click here!

And The Tablescaper is our host for Seasonal Sundays.  Click here!

Country or Cutting Edge? Two Thrifty 'Scapes!

Some new thrifty treasures arrived yesterday at That Old House.
So today I want to play with them!

Don't forget to visit the blogs listed at the end of this post,
for so many more wonderful thrifty discoveries, and beautiful tablescapes!

**********************************************************************

Now for my thrifty finds: in this box . . . a Craigslist find,
but I can't show you the whole contents
on the slim chance that my sister reads my blog.

After Christmas, okay?

A second box held two sweet old silverplate forks, more than a century old,
in the Blenheim pattern I showcased in Tuesday's post.

These are the first Blenheim forks I have found. I just love that pattern, and Ebay.

This last box is a flat-rate post office fellow who was waiting on my front porch when I got home last evening. It is jammed full of old nickel silver flatware, also from Ebay.

Now if you didn't think I needed an intervention before this, you know the awful truth now. In this box are 132 pieces of flatware, pretty evenly divided among knives, forks and lovely great big spoons.

I already have some similar flatware, so I've got service now for more than 50.

These pieces are old. They were never fancy, they were workaday flatware around the turn of the last century, and I think they have great charm and good strong lines. Most are in very good condition; a few have some issues, but that's OK.

I paid less than ten bucks for the whole shebang.

In Princeton yesterday, I picked up these:

This is a stack of just 11 heavy red dinner plates by Oneida, but the rest of them are still out in my car! I bought 51 red plates in all for a total of $20. The hard part was lugging them out to my car and wrapping them for the trip home.

This flatware and dinnerware, after a good cleaning, will get tucked away in the pantry and be ready when duty calls. When we have one of our big parties,
we'll have matching flatware and plates for as many as 50.

And Howard, if you are reading this, sorry I forgot to tell you about the 132 pieces of old flatware.
Oops. My bad.

***************************************************************

Since it is Tablescape Thursday, and I am so in the mood to play with new toys, I used one of the red plates and some of the flatware in two different settings.

One is sweet, the other more edgy.

Edgy first.

This tablesetting is in honor of my daughter Anne, away at grad school and much missed.
The big black cup is from her school; how perfect for chili on a cold night!

Chili, eaten with one of these massive lovely old spoons.

Anne loves old flatware almost as much as I do.

The ceramic hand was one of Anne's undergraduate projects.

I like having it keep me company.

And I can never say my daughter didn't give me a hand. :-)

The red placemats and napkins were a set: $5 for 4 of each at HomeGoods.

Does it look as though we are having Hand Soup for supper?

Anne likes these old pewter S&Ps that were my Mom's; they have good classic lines.

I love the mercury glass candleholder I bought on a Goodwill
hunting trip with Annie, near her school.
It echoes the lines of the wineglass, a handblown crystal wedding gift.

Now, for something completely different!

Swapping out the edgy for the soft and sweet.

Same big red dinner plate, same linens, same flatware, but a rooster plate from T.J. Maxx (bought on a trip to visit our daughter Alida in California) brings in some other colors.

Turquoise, in a bowl (Dollar Tree) that also can hold our make-believe chili.

Aqua blue wineglass, a summertime thrift shop find, one of 5, blown and bubbly.

I've promised these to Alida, and eventually I'll ship them out.

Two little chickens join us. I think they are looking for a rooster.

The mercury glass light is still with us, and still lit.

A few mums in red and yellow in a very old silver spooner, well tarnished and used.

Do you have a favorite table setting? Do you like the more modern supper setting:

or the cozy country one?

My soapstone kitchen countertop is being installed on Saturday; I am so excited and nervous! Meanwhile, please keep your fingers crossed that by Wednesday, I have a usable sink and cooktop, or it's Happy Meals on paper plates for my Thanksgiving guests!





Join Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for more fun with dishes,
on Tablescape Thursday.













And buzz over to say Hi to Suzanne,
at Coloradolady, for her
Vintage Thingies Thursday blog party!









Tales from Bloggeritaville's
Leigh hosts
Thrifty Thursday. Check it out!

And the hand is waving goodbye. . . .

Happy Thursday! --- Cass