Pets and Pottery and Pendletons

So sorry I missed visiting with you last week! The fact is, I’ve been Working on Projects. I’ve had this long list of things to do and make and just wasn’t getting anything done. So I moved my sewing machine back upstairs (huff, huff, puff, puff…that baby is HEAVY!) and put it in the breakfast room, which is right outside my office. And I piled all the stuff I need to work on all over the breakfast table. (We always eat in the dining room so no meals have been missed in this process.) So now that my to-do list is in my way and in my face, I’m getting some things finished.

Like slipcovers for all the outdoor furniture. Four chairs down, two chairs and a chaise to go.

 

And a slipcover for the fairly valuable and extremely comfortable MCM chair that our dog Zoë prefers to sleep in. Picked up this bedspread of Indian cotton last week for a buck. Now I don’t have to worry about the leather cushion.

I’ve hardly diminished the pile on the breakfast table though. Will keep you apprised of progress!

Of course Friday and Saturday mornings are sacred to the thrifting hunt. Friday is Judy morning and Saturday is Toni morning. Judy is still trying on hats, this time to the amusement of everyone else at the sale. I think she looks quite fetching.

At the time, it hasn’t seemed like the sales have been very good, but now that I look at a couple of weeks’ pictures I realize that not only have I been out having a great time with my friends, but I’ve found some great stuff. A few things I’m hoping to resell, like these vintage tablecloths. Apple blossoms

and a gorgeous Wilendur with dogwood blossoms.

Also scored two absolutely adorable vintage aprons. This tulip apron is all handmade and about the cutest thing ever. The tulips are little pockets!

 

And this little darling is a clothespin-bag apron. Look at the bluebirds helping to hang the wash! Doesn’t that make you want to abandon your dryer so you could be out in the sunshine wearing this?

The vintage gods didn’t stop there either. They presented me with three Pendleton wool shirts for the hubs for – are you ready? One dollah each. How fast do you think I had those hangers in my hand?  One had some spots that we got out with a couple of washings, and I did some repairs, but these puppies are getting up there in years. The laundry tag in one is dated 1960!

And there’s more. VINTAGE BUTTONS! Woo hoo! You know I live for a good button score. AT 25 cents per card these were spendy compared to that other find, but hey, sometimes you just have to shell out.

And these guys are cool. I’ve never seen wooden buttons with cork insets before.

The brown ones and red ones have nifty incised designs.

I’m not usually crazy about metal buttons, but these I love. And the card they’re on indicates they date from the mid to late Forties.

These chrome wine bottle stoppers aren’t vintage, but I thought fifty cents for the pair was a good deal. I’m thinking they might make cool yard ornaments somehow, maybe hanging in a tree. (Where I will no doubt bang my head on them every time I pass by…)

 

Met a handsome kitty demonstrating the merchandise.

Judy and I hit a sale on Friday that seemed a bit crazed. It was late in the morning but the folks were still setting up. I noticed a free box when we arrived and found a lovely umbrella in it. Works great, but the handle was all sticky. I tossed it in the car, figuring I could deal with sticky, and indeed it all came off with a little Soft Scrub.

Some of their items had prices on them, others not. You guessed it…every single thing either of us thought might be of interest wasn’t priced. “And how much is this?” Two seconds later… “And how much is this?” And the answers could be anything, though usually were more than I thought reasonable. So when I picked up a lovely handmade pottery serving bowl and asked, I was amazed that the price was a dollar.

     

I was originally thinking of using it as a water bowl for the dogs. But I looked up the signature on the bottom and discovered it was made by a pretty famous Pacific Northwest potter, Nels Mears. People actually collect his work. So maybe the dogs don’t get it after all.

        

My favorite conversation from the past couple of weekends happened at an estate sale near home. I had just snagged the Pendletons, and in the same room a man was looking at an old piece of electronics that turned out to be a reel to reel tape player with attached speakers. He mentioned that he works on old record players and I was telling him about mine. We chatted for several minutes, and then he asked me, “Say, did you take a fall a couple of weeks ago?” And I realized he was the nice man who was leaving the estate sale I was going to when I fell downhill. He stopped to see if he could help, while I lay on the street with my eyes shut hoping my glasses hadn’t smashed and uttering not-very-ladylike words. I was awfully glad to have a chance to thank him for his concern that day and assure him I had hardly been hurt at all.

But I tell you…Salem is not a very big town!