Placesettings: Star-gazing at lunch

Posted: July 28, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Home and Garden, Placesettings, Vintage tablecloths | Tags: , , , , | 4 Comments
Are these gorgeous or what?

Are these gorgeous or what?

I just planted a clump of Stargazer lilies near our front door. A year ago that space was our old driveway, so I had a blank slate for planting, so to speak. A blank plot, I guess.

I love Stargazers because they’re big. And showy. And so fragrant! Just right for near the door.

When I was done watering them in I remembered that I had this big and showy tablecloth to match.

Don't those look like Stargazers?

Don’t those look like Stargazers?

It has a creamy yellow center with a white border and bold lily motifs in the corners. No markings on this tablecloth, so I don’t know who made it.

Yep, there’s more!

Placesettings: our Easter table

Posted: April 21, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Holidays, Lurayville, Placesettings | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

Uh oh, looks like somebody already ate all the jelly beans that were piled high in this Fanny Farmer candy cup!

Easter Day was sunny and 50 degrees here. Crocuses, snowdrops, and a few early daffodils are blooming. The buds on the magnolia trees are just beginning to open. Lawns are starting to green up.

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We’re so hungry for the sight of more blooming things that this floral tablecloth was the perfect choice. It’s not old—the label on it says “Waterford”—but that oversized print (lilacs! lilies! peonies! er, daisies? and, uh, some other flowers I’m too lousy a gardener to recognize)  has a vintage vibe. There are napkins to match, too.

Yep, there’s more!

If I had a backyard bigger than a patch of grass with a swingset, I’d put these in it.

Posted: April 15, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Home and Garden, Sage Farm | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

Three big pieces from Sage Farm’s Hint of Spring show that would be perfect in a roomy garden. (If only I had one!) All three were repurposed from vintage bits of this & that by somebody with imagination and a lot of talent.

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A potting bench with an antique single tap and an unusual square porcelain enamel cast iron sink basin. Hook it up to your outdoor plumbing and you have a marvelous place to pot up and to wash hands when you’re done! Two drawers for tools and seed packets plus a vintage ironstone soap dish add functionality. And those white turned columns for the upper shelf add a little glam, don’t they?

Read on, Lizzie!

FINALLY! A pink sign of spring In New England

Posted: April 9, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Fun Finds, Lurayville | Tags: , | Comments Off on FINALLY! A pink sign of spring In New England

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You know spring has finally arrived in New England when these show up on the shelves at Kmart.

Yes indeed, I picked up a box to replenish my winter-weary flock in the back yard. I wasn’t looking for them, but there they were. Instant happiness.

I have a lot to post about Sage Farm, but for now . . . the first spotting of pink plastic lawn flamingos makes me just about as happy as seeing the pink tulips in a neighbor’s yard.

(Bonus: this means the Serro Scotty Camper Enthusiasts’ spring camp-out can’t be far behind! Woot!)

 

The washboard joke’s on me!

Posted: January 14, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Fun Finds, Home and Garden, Laundry | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on The washboard joke’s on me!

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Turns out that Columbus Washboard Company is still in business!

Apparently they are the last American maker of washboards. Their tiny Ohio factory still builds them by hand, one at a time.

They also sell interesting stuff like British-made wool-fat soap. Wool-o-phile that I am, I’ve gotta try that.

Coolest thing about them? They ship galvanized washboards and laundry supplies to US servicemen and women who are overseas in places where modern laundry facilities are thin on the ground. And they don’t make any profit from it.

I’m still not packing up my WW2-era glass Home Aide to take on vacation.

But I’m delighted that they’re still making Maid-Rites and Crystal Cascades, and especially those world-traveling American Prides.

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