The Posh Life

I’m drinking a very posh cup of tea as I write. The mug was a gift from my friend Marcia, who visited this week with her husband from California. They stayed long enough that we got to go garaging together once more, along with my friend Judy. The three of us drove to sales in my green convertible, talking and talking, and it was one of those wonderful moments when your past and present get to meet up.

Perhaps fortunately for Marcia and David’s plan to continue their road trip as soon as we finished garaging, there were almost no sales this weekend! Judy spent a whole dollar Friday morning and Marcia and I spent nothing. The beauty of garaging is, none of us cared a bit. There’s always another treasure hunt out there in the future. We bid farewell to the travelers, and I bided my time until Saturday…

…when it was pouring down rain. And we’d decided to go to a plant sale. But there was one sale near home (“rain or shine!” the Craigslist ad promised) so while Steven had breakfast I dashed over there. And it was packed. Guess none of us treasure seekers are ready for the winter hiatus.

First person I saw was the woman who drives a convertible like mine (different color though), who told me she had to hurry home because she was having a tea party for three little neighbor girls that day. It’s something she did with her grandchildren, and now that they’re too old, she invites the neighborhood children. They pour tea from a fancy pot into delicate cups, and eat dainty sandwiches. “And we wear hats!” she said. I know they had a lovely time.

Perhaps it was an omen, this talk of tea, because the first thing I picked up was this fancy box of tea.

      

Have you seen these? Talk about upscale tea. Little silk pyramids with a leaf on a stem to swish it about, each in their own little pyramid box. They normally retail for about two bucks each. That’s each tea bag. Not much less than I pay for a box of 25 or so at Trader Joe’s. I’m sure this unopened sampler set was a gift, for as we always say, “If there were no gifts, there would be no garage sales.” The price on a driveway? Fifty cents. So I get to revel in a mug of very posh tea for less than a dime. Mmmm, tastes so much better at that price!

The next item I picked up was something on my “watch for” list; I brought it home, put it in place, and my husband said, “I’m not sure that will fit in. It’s way classier than anything else around it.” And he’s right. It’s a travertine soap dish

solid, heavy, lovely.

So we now have a few square inches of posh by the kitchen sink.

I’m sure our dogs appreciate poshness as much as we do, so I didn’t resist these doggie ice cube trays.

I often give them ice straight from the ice maker, which they love crunching up. But now we’ll be able to make them their own Special Ice Cubes. The first batch is in the freezer now, each cube with two pieces of dog food embedded in the ice. That should be fun. And a friend of ours used to freeze chicken broth, calling them pupsicles. I see all kinds of fun ahead.

I succumbed to one more item (well, a pair!) before dashing home to get to the plant sale. One of those “this is too cute to leave behind” things that I sometimes feel a bit guilty about buying (after all, how much cuteness does a person need?). But I’ve recently realized that my home office has become a sort of “Museum de Me” with carefully curated displays (okay, random displays) of stuff I just like. I don’t have to keep things forever, but while they still have the power to make me smile, they can stay. So here’s the latest addition to the Cute Dog Stuff collection.

Salt and pepper shakers. Perhaps to be repurposed as Christmas ornaments in a couple of months.

Sometimes I buy posh pieces, sometimes I have to create them. All the double and queen size flat sheets I’ve bought recently have now been made into custom-fitted sets for the four twin beds in our guest rooms. It’s such a treat to make up a bed with lovely cloth and fitted corners that actually fit. No more trying to cram thick mattresses into skimpy twin sheets!

And what could be more posh than owning a genuine antique mohair teddy bear? Unless, of course, he looks like this.

Threadbare, the scanty fur dirty and matted, no eyes, only one ear, paw pads missing or ratty. He was a sad little object, hardly worth the quarter I paid for him. But first he got some gentle washing (after his stint in the freezer!) which revealed more fur than I thought would be there

and it even has a bit of a sheen. I made new paw coverings, reattached the leg, and added eyes and a mouth. I didn’t have anything to make a new ear (that will have to wait until I happen across a scrap of mohair) but a cap hides that. And I think he looks much better…and happier!