Have I Got A Story For You!

A 50 piece set of fine silver plate in exquisite shape. Isn't it beautiful? I have to think the set is pretty old, given the shape of that fabric. I saw it on Saturday and can tell you that fabric looked old. Sorry, the shop no longer has it. Larry Bruderer, the gentleman who does and who is a member of the shop's email club, told me this amazing story as to how and why he bought it from the shop. Larry, thank you for coming in to tell me this story. It is a tale worth telling.

Sometime recently Larry came into the shop, saw this set for sale (for $75) and got quite excited because he thought he and his partner had a set very much like it at home, even to the monogrammed M on the front of the pieces and there were some pieces missing from the set. He ran back home, picked up a piece or two and came back with them, and sure enough--the very same set. OK, you say, that's not so unusual. Go down to Macy's and you may find a nice set of silver plate and buy it and a lot of other folks may see it and like the same set and buy it and a lot of young women have first names beginning with M and their name is often monogrammed on their silver or silver plate. However, Patrician, the pattern on this set and on Larry's partner's set----dates from 1914. How about that? How many sets are there floating around the pattern of which dates from 1914? And...how many identical sets with patterns from 1914? Infinitesimal! Parts of Larry's partner's set have gotten lost over the years, as will happen but they both started out the very same way.

Now how did his partner get this set? Eighty years ago, Larry's partner's mother was given this set in Concord, New Hampshire in a Gift Hope Chest. She got a lot of pleasure out of this lovely set of silver plate and Larry and his partner now enjoy it.

Now, is that a story or is that a story?!!

Mystery Spooky Picture! A Dinner Napkin For A Giant!

I first saw this wonderful decorative ball all by itself, without the stand, and I just had to pick it up. It's light--believe it or not. The stand? Well, the stand is a wonder!
I've been told that this (along with a whole table full of similar fun things) is a pillow case for a child's bed. I can see other possibilities for it: a piece for a quilt; an apron for said child; a dinner napkin for a giant?
We have a new cupboard, only half of which you see here. Each shelf shows off one or two things to perfection. I always look forward to saving one of these postings so I can go to each shelf and click away to my heart's content. Yahoo has decided to mess the whole process up and you now no longer have a way to click on each object twice, for which I an a little irritated. For those of us that still have a fair amount of child in them, clicking on an object and having it expand magically is a joy and not to be messed with!
I have no idea what this is but I love it! It combines grandeur with spookiness. Makes me shudder to look at it. I may just have to go get it with the sole purpose of irritating my husband. "Either that goes or you go!" There's a story, here, Folks, not only in what you see in front of you in all its spooky grandeur but someone has gone to a lot of trouble to write something on the bottom. Love it!
I have to apologize for this photograph. I took this picture in the afternoon when the sun was setting. No amount of fooling around with the image is going to allow one to properly see the garment on the left, which I believe is a handsome man's suit. Anyway, we have some good things on the Dollar Rack and this time you'll just have to check them out on your own.

WELCOME BACK!

We're really happy with our new shelves. Look at that white brick showing behind a seemingly unending display of beautiful object-de-art! So I haven't spelled it right; you get the idea!
Mugs, cups, saucers, plates and what else? A very unusual display of boxes on the top shelf. Open them, and more boxes appear. Don't you love those cups and saucers? Are they a match? It's a mystery! I'll have to wait until I can save this posting and click on the pictures. Click on the picture once and everything expands like magic. If you want to get a still closer look at one of those mugs, click on it!
I'm particularly entranced with this cupboard. Those plates on the top shelf! I've been eyeing them for days.
Isn't this beautiful? Someone took a lovely blouse and paired it with a very unusual vest. The combination's a knockout!
Our first Dollar Rack for 2012. A lovely group of clothes--a little spare but it will be added to!

Sneak Peak Turnabout Mysteries!

This blog posting is full of mysteries. Where are we? Any mystery has clues: one clue is that gorgeous brick. It's going to stay--yeah! It's on the left which means we are looking forward and the light streaming in toward the rear suggests we are looking toward the front of the shop. Any dissenters?
No view of brick to help us here. Those piles of wood could be anywhere. How about those shelves on the right? To me they look very much like the shelves in the front which makes me think we're again in the front of shop looking forward. Anyone see anything else to make them think otherwise?
This is a toughie, since most of you haven't seen this space so I'll tell you. This is a storage area which holds books right behind the clothes room. Which way are we looking? Since the brick is on the left we're at the back looking forward.
This has one overwhelming clue which will tell you in a moment where we are. What is it? The clothes rack under that plastic on the run from Halloween night. It's in the clothes room, of course. I know you wouldn't use that plastic for a ghost costume but some people have no sense. I let my older son leave one Halloween night dressed like a refrigerator, with the box extending all the way to the top of his feet. Smart? Oh Yeah. I'll never live that down. The poor kid fell on the way down our sidewalk.
Now this baby doesn't even seem to belong in our shop and there are no clues to speak of but it is here, and I had to step carefully to keep from falling into it. Apparently the beams which are affixed to the brick wall are anchored underneath in some fashion and the workers had to check the soil for stability--at least that's what I'm guessing.

We are now at the end of our mystery tour of the shop. We are anxious to have our shop back in working order. I'll keep you posted!

A Chinese Screen! An American Quilting Bee!

Amazing isn't it? Click on it and marvel. It's Chinese, it's beautiful.

A close up of two of those screens. Scenes of a different time when life was gracious, when days didn't revolve around iPads and TRAFFIC. Look deep into these wonderful scenes and let yourself be part of them. All of this beauty is misleading, of course. This was a time of violence too. That lovely little horse was undoubtedly a war horse. What the heck--enjoy!
A batik which can be used in quilting, I'm told. Beautiful and bold.
A batik with butterflies! Don't you just love it!
Quilting blocks! A whole table of them! Dogs of all kinds looking out at you! These fabrics are long and wide--I'm just showing a little bit of them. A quilt for a little girl's or a little boy's bed?
A quilting block with cats!
A quilting block with a city scene. All of these are 25 cents a piece or five for a dollar. Get quilting!

Calling All Fabric Lovers!

I don't promise to know anything about sewing machines but given that, this one looks good to me. When my sons were little I made them Dracula costumes on the sorriest machine you could imagine--one of those monsters that looked and was uncommonly heavy. It did a good job. Can you imagine what this machine can offer?
Just an example of what fabrics are sitting on the table in the middle room waiting to be grabbed and put to stellar use!
There are amazing things here. How about those horses on the topmost shelf or the blue vase--not to forget those wonderful birds. I'm a Midwesterner and I should know what those gorgeous birds are. Perhaps some sort of ducks? My father and brother would blanch with horror. How could I not know exactly what those gorgeous creatures are?
It's about time you had another chance to explore one of our shelves and here's a great example. Enjoy!
Another great dollar rack. I love that white shirt with the gold and there are some other shirts that look good enough my fingers are itching right now. The flowers are nosing around so it's hard to see everything but maybe that black and white baby?

Miscellaneous Treasures!

This is a 100 year old spoon. Think of all the tables it has graced. Truly beautiful.
And then we come to the truly ugly but I love 'em. Frogs! Look at that top shelf. That is a true panoply of frogs.
And now we're back to the beautiful. These lovely dancing creatures are women--or maybe they're breath from a frozen lake from the Far North.
A New York City street scene? I don't know, as the sidewalk seems too ample for a city like New York and that bicycle too Midwest in flavor. I've now looked at it and guess what--it's European, maybe Paris with that table and chairs but what oh what is a Midwest bicycle doing there?
I feel like I'd like to get in there with my greedy fingers and push these babies around. What is in there? Your guess is as good as mine. Oh--the pink and gray sweater doesn't count in our naming game.