Happy Cinco de Mayo, Amigos!

Homer Laughlin's Mexicana pattern plate and
Mexican sombrero boy S&P shakers (ironically marked "Japan")

I have been celebrating Cinco de Mayo since the mid-80's when, at the time, I lived in San Diego, California. The festive holiday has been carried with me back to my Midwest roots and now, some 25 plus years later, I still enjoy a cerveza on this celebration of Mexico's independence. Here are a couple of items we have in our home with that fiesta flair! Happy Cinco de Mayo, amigos!

Wool felt jacket from 1940's or 1950's  purchased for $2.00

Ode to Trudy

I have had many cats in my life. Some have come to me on their own accord, strays, I guess that happened upon us. There was Manny, a sturdy male cat with a pleasant demeanor. And Greycat, who, of course was gray - he actually would come in the house and play with then puppy Pearl, our now 120 pound black lab. And there was Tripp, whom I assume was dumped on our road as a kitten and was lucky enough to find a good home here - named for the trip he made in his young life. And how could I forget Miss Kitty, whom I thought showed up to have kittens under our porch but it ended up her pooch was just that. She even moved with us to our new home.

Other cats were rescues or given to us. There was Buddy, a yellow cat who came home with my husband from work. And Cricket and Bopper, twins that were found and given to us - there was a theme with the names then as our yellow lab was named Holly (Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The Big Bopper).  And there's our old cat, 19 almost now, Bebe Neuwirth whom we found abandoned on a porch. She is aptly named after the actress who played Lilith on "Cheers" as she is black and white and is an uptight bitch (like Lilith, not Bebe the actress)!

But none of them have compared to Trudy. Trudy was a tiger striped cat named after Truman Tiger, our university mascot. We got her at an animal rescue place and is the only cat we have ever paid money. She wasn't a kitten so no one wanted to adopt her but we did. She was more than just a cat, she was a "dog" cat. She flicked her tail when she was happy. She would follow me up and down the stairs. She slept with us and with the other real dogs. She would let Pearl lick her on the head. She was not weirdly independent like most cats - she liked being around people and other animals and was pleasant. She talked to me all the time and let me know when she wanted something. She was happy to see us when we got home. By all accounts, she was a dog in kitty disguise.  Even my husband liked her and he doesn't like cats. She was a fun, faithful companion.

The only thing that was not dog like about her was her ability to leave our fenced yard. Most of the time when she squeezed through the gate, she would just play in the woods next to the drive way or go out back by the shed. And most of the time, she actually would stay in the yard. But sadly, on Wednesday night, April 18 when I went to call her in for the night, she did not come running. When I went to look for her, I found her in the road - apparently, she had decided to cross and was struck by a vehicle. It broke my heart.

Every time an animal dies, a piece of me goes with them. I lament about what I should have done differently. If only I had not let Trudy out the hour before, she would still be here. If we had made her strictly an indoor cat, she would be alive. I carry a lot of guilt with me for some time. But here is what I know - when they are with us, they have the best life we can give. We care for them like children. And love them, too. They are a part of our family.

Yesterday, I buried Trudy in the bird "area" of our yard. She spent many hours there under the bushes watching, waiting. She will be happy there - just look how many cardinals were in the bush this winter.  I am sure the birds and the rodents are glad she isn't pestering them anymore but I will miss her dearly. Goodbye Trudy Bear - you were the coolest dog cat ever!

Sell a Little, Buy a Lot

Last week, I visited my booth space at Hildebrand's Framing & Gifts to add a few things. It had been a couple of weeks since I had been there and I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the booth spaces have filled up plus I had a check for sales I made in the month of March! Wahoo! It wasn't enough to cover the rental, yet, but it is a start and we are heading into "tourist" season so I am hopeful that I will increase sales. Having more vendors in the place doesn't hurt either - it gives people more eye candy and reasons to shop there.  So I took a little looksy around, myself, and found some vintage items I brought home with me.

Set of 8 plastic coated or rubberized striped glasses, each a different color.
 Fun and only $4! Does anybody know who made these?

Federal Glass Country Kitchen Mixing Bowl - $3

 Since I was in the big city of Warsaw, I decided to visit a couple of other places to see what I could find. First I stopped at Oma's Thrift store and found these items:

More Federal Glass - a creamer and sugar with lid in the Golden Glory pattern - $1 for the set

Rogers Insilco Stainless Tray and a silver or pewter vase (heavy) - $1 each

Avon Milk glass Decanter - Partridge from 1973

My last stop (other than Walmart, of course) was at the Copper Top Flea Market. They were having a sale of 25% off anything with the color yellow in it. Although most of these purchases were not real "thrifty" prices, I picked up some cool items, anyway.

A vintage enamel pin or earring (that's what the lady said) made into a bracelet - $11.25

Raggedy Ann & Andy vintage twin sheet (love the colors) in mint condition - $1.88

Tulip motif triangular acrylic pitcher - $13.13
No mark - any body have ideas on manufacturer?

West Germany pottery vase - $10

There are a lot of little thrift stores, flea markets, and antique stores in Warsaw so if you are ever in that area, I encourage you to check them out. Later this week, I will share some more of my finds from the city wide garage sale in Versailles (not France) I went to on Friday. It was a spectacular week!

And in honor of the birds that are starting to arrive and nest in our neck of the woods, a final find from Warsaw.

Goldfinch Vintage Planter - 25 cents

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. From my brief tour, it looks like people are finding all kinds of goodies!

Take a Seat... It's Been Awhile

I have been kind of negligent on posting lately. It's not for lack of material as I have been finding some fabulous stuff recently. I guess because spring has come early, I have been working on other things like mushroom hunting, planting garden with my husband (we put 75 tomato plants in the ground by the end of March - unheard of in Missouri most years), and sprucing up the porch, patio, and deck. As I said, I have found time to go to garage sales, thrift stores, and flea markets, too. Instead of inundating you with lots of finds at once, I think I will do several posts and concentrate on one or two of some the best in the last three weeks.

In March, I told you about this fantastic glass front cabinet I snatched up at the Edmonson Trading Post. Last weekend, they held their sale for the month of April and again, I was able to pick up some mid-century modern furniture - three chairs by the W.H. Gunlocke Chair Company, a US company located in Wayland, New York since 1902.

When I first saw the chairs, it was from this view and I was immediately drawn to them. What great clean lines. Since there was three of them, I originally assumed they were dining chairs (I don't know why) but after doing a little research, I am certain they were meant as office or board room chairs.

All of the chairs are in good condition. They need a little attention like maybe some Danish Oil, and there are a couple of little nicks and scratches on each but all in all, really sturdy and quite handsome. I can't believe no one had scooped them up as I went to the sale the second day and they were only $6 each.

 Each chair has a metal fob attached to it under the arm - a sign of a quality product, I think. And one chair had a complete paper tag on it and one a partial. They all had another smaller paper tag stapled along the bottom of the seat, as well. At first, I thought the "1977" was the year it was manufactured but I have now discovered that is the model number. Although I do not know the exact age of the chairs, I do know they were made sometime between 1940 and 1969. The "G" logo was established in 1940 and the company was sold in 1969 and renamed The Gunlocke Company.  Yes, that's quite a span of years but I was pleased to determine they are true mid-century modern. I haven't decided if I am keeping them because, really, I don't know what I would do with three office chairs (although they are way cool) but if not, I will probably list them on craigslist.

Has anybody had experience with Gunlocke chairs? Is there a site that has any listing of the model numbers and the year they were built? I love to know as much as I can about my items so any information would be much appreciated.

I'm linking to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday - a couple of days late! Enjoy all the other finds of thrifters across the world.

I'll Take Three, Please... How Odd

Well, the official March Madness is O-V-E-R for me. My team tripped and fell hard in the first round. I still can't talk about it, it hurts that much, and I won't be watching any more college basketball until November. On the upside, I guess that just leaves more time for garage sales, estate sales, thrifts, and flea markets this month!

I noticed that I have been picking up items in three's lately. Although, it is certainly more correct to display items in odd numbers, I have not purposely acquired things based on this premise. Is it just natural to pick in that order? I don't know - it seems odd to me! Anyway, here are some of my finds...

Here is a set of three vases I purchased this weekend. Okay, well, technically the orange "vase" is a vintage water jar but you certainly could put a bouquet of flowers in it. I really love the fired-on color and will be putting it in my kitchen. The tall art glass vase is more stunning in person. It has a thread of orange running through it that is not evident in the picture. It was super cheap, too, at 25 cents. The blue vase is an actual Danish Modern vase that came from a Danish couple's estate. It is not marked but I think it is cool and it has a story. And it was only $3.

In the last month, I have acquired three C. Jere bronze sculptures. The eagle on helm and the skier were purchased from Worthpoint and Craigslist, respectively, and while they were not bargain prices, they were priced reasonably and below market value. I am definitely keeping the eagle but may possibly give the skier as I gift - I don't know. The sea gull on helm I purchased at an estate sale. Although I hesitated a little, I have it on auction in my eBay store right now if anyone is interested.

I have a thing for vintage planters, most specifically Haeger planters. I prefer white and gold ones but I usually bring them all home if the price is right. The green stripe and basket weave planters are Haeger. The other is not marked but it has such mid mod style that I had to have it. Keeping all three.

In a week's time, I had accumulated three different pitchers. The all white pitcher has the coolest, mod floral design on the bottom half and the shape is fab, too. It is marked Thomas of Germany. The other white pitcher has a great mid century modern pattern on each side in black, grey and gold. It is marked Fine Bohemian China Czechoslovakia. I am debating whether to sell or keep it. And the sun tea pitcher is just fun. I guess you would float the tea bags in it but I don't know how to keep the bugs and  debris out when making my sun tea! I'll have to experiment.

My final three is this set of signed Friedman water color prints of scenes from San Francisco. They are each marked 1/64 which I originally thought was the number in the limited edition series. However, after seeing a few on the internet, it seems Friedman marked a lot of them 1/64 so it is now assumed that is the date. I have a collection of San Francisco items including some other artwork, and my husband works for the company that make the cable car ropes (cable) so when I saw these, I knew they were making their way to the old homestead. They were only $15 for the set. I have so much art I don't know exactly where I am going to hang these but I will find a place.

So, how is your March going? Have you found yourself buying multiples of certain items? I bet your treasures are just right for you!

Linking to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. Take a look at what others are finding!



Happy St. Patrick's Day To You!

There are many good reasons for drinking,
One has just entered my head-
If a man doesn't drink when he's living,
How the hell can he drink when he's dead?

Luck of the Irish? Oh, I Think So.

Today, I went to the first sale of the season for the Edmonson Trading Post. They have a sale at least once a month, March through November, and the prices are always outrageously cheap! The owners are "auction hunters" buying up storage units throughout the year to fill their store. It is one of my favorite places around here. Seriously, I once bought a vintage Los Angeles tablecloth at the Post for 25 cents and sold it for $25 which was a probably a bargain for that buyer. I spent a total of $12 buying quite a few smalls for my booth and this - my best purchase for the day which I'm fairly certain I am keeping:

It has a little damage to the top and some places that need to be cleaned but the glass is in excellent condition and it slides freely in the grooves. I can't decide whether I should sand it down or try some other method of restoring it. The finish is sort of chippy in places. Does anybody have any suggestions? I hardly ever see mid century pieces in this neck of the woods so I am excited about finding it, and the price was only $4 so how could I possibly leave it behind. I think Irish luck came to me a day early!