Still Fall

Hello friends! I haven't visited you here since summertime and I wanted to get in a fall post before everything turned into Christmas. Not quite everything has. 

My life has changed so much since I was a regular blogger. I'm not actively out buying for a shop these days, for one thing. I realize I always had something new to show you, and that makes a big difference.  

Now that I am passing on a lot of my own favorite possessions, it's more about rediscovering things and getting down to keeping only the most treasured. Old pitchers will always be on that list!

Old crocheted pieces continue to delight me too, especially if they feature unusual patterns. But let's face it. There are still millions of gorgeous works out there just waiting to be found. I love that little leaf pattern inside this one, for instance.

I am hoarding three of these.

I guess my bread board collection isn't big enough either because I still buy almost every single one I find!

This wonderful old towel just found it's way back to the top of one of the "save" baskets. It's a really large thick one. 

One of my more recent indulgences are tallow berries. I only have a few sprigs because they are priced so dear, and in addition we have to send away for them from here. They are a southern thing which I envied so much on all your Texas blogs when I started out!

They look good on everything!

I do have my sentimental favorites like this little leafy creamer for fall. It's on display all year, but is so cheery in November.

The berry details with the thorns enchant me like a fairytale.

So this is where I started out this morning. Sitting at my breakfast table, musing.

Flipping the pages of a new magazine, (Christmas, of course!) and feeling the old tug to share a few things.

After all, it is always time for being thankful, for spreading the bounty, for reaching deep into whatever it is that we have been holding on to, and sharing from the heart.

Thankful for your visits,

 and wishing you all the blessings of the season,

Jacqueline

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Once A Collector, Always A Collector

Sometimes I forget where I am and try to explain myself. I'm a collector, and anybody who visits me here after all this time needs no explanation.

I'm not strictly in the "business" anymore. Vintage, I mean. But who out there can just turn off the love? Am I right??

It's been more than a year since I visited any local markets until now. Some of the prices are unbelievable. You all know that I personally do not need one more ironstone pitcher, but look at this cutie! Fifteen bucks! What a lovely vessel with which to give away a bouquet of flowers.

Cut glass is another weakness of mine, and I look at this beautiful compote as another way to wrap up something (anything from cookies to soap) as a nice gift. Seven dollars.

This scrumptious old tea pot with the exquisite detail was ten dollars.

But it was finding this little set of Staffordshire dogs that keeps me driven to the hunt. I have been on the lookout for tiny figures for many, many years. I know you can buy the small ones for real money online any day of the week, but I would rather find a set for a tiny price to match. Wouldn't you?

I am showing them with the smallest dogs that I had collected so far. (Those are actually more common to find online.) How many ways are there to say "THRILLED"!? I don't think I have stopped squealing inside.

Here is the contrast with the bigger boys that are seven and a half inches tall.

And well, you all know of my linen obsession. I don't collect linen anymore. Except when I do. (Grinning here....) Few people want it or use it anymore. It is a lost art, so I treat it that way, often just hanging it around to be seen and appreciated. Mostly by me. It's one of my happy things to surround myself with.

I like to hang it like art.

What else can you do with a crocheted doily with an lovely linen insert in my favorite ivory color?

I do occasionally use this linen runner on a table or dresser.

The piece underneath is my most recent pillowcase find. A wonderful antique linen that shows better layered on the wall than on a bed. Though I will use it that way too.

This pair of napkins came from a thrift store jaunt with my granddaughter. (You KNOW she was raised right!)

I found the tablecloth at the fleamarket, and I'm actually pretty sure I sold this myself in a moment of weakness a couple of years ago! Glad to have it back. Looks like my sort of thing doesn't it?

This gorgeous all linen and lace runner is lovely, long, and oh so soft. Thrift store too.

This is a small crocheted curtain. Ready to hang or lay on a table.

This one found right beside it with a bit different detail. These are all over Europe hanging in cheery windows.

So I think I have scratched that itch for the next little while. It sure was fun!

I hope you are all finding your own cures for all the madness. We are having the most surprising mild summer, though a crazy hard rain flooded the kitchen and called for a new roof. I consider myself lucky.

Also, I am so glad to see that the sidebar thumbnail photos are back when you post! Bravo! I thought they were gone forever! Unless I learn a solution, your email notifications when I post are soon gone from your email though. (sad face)

 Take good care of yourselves out there!

Jacqueline

Join me at

 Follow the Yellow Brick Home ~ All About Home

Common Ground ~ All About Home

Finding Comfort in Collections

I just made the smallest shift in the arrangement on top of my dining room display shelf. For we compulsive arrangers it can be the best kind of therapy. But in truth, there is no stopping it anyway! We can't keep our hands off of things. And if we aren't arranging things physically, we are doing it in our heads.

Some people listen to music to soothe themselves. The shapes and patterns of my china and linens, and the rythm of my collections does it for me.

And entering the light-filled spaces of my rooms first thing in the morning just starts the day right! 

This little McCoy pottery hand tray is new to the rotation. Her reason for being is simply to look pretty while holding things; pins, earrings, coins. My mother had these little dishes all over the place full of the most unlikely stray objects that never seemed to find a proper place of their own. It drove me to distraction! Today she holds stray tallow berries.

I am also a creature of habit and tend to use the same favorite tablecloths over and over, so I went hunting for something different that I haven't put to use in a while. I can't seem to part with these gorgeous white on white embroidery cloths that are less practical for daily use. But just having them in a stack to admire for a change gives me a lift too.

A little lace peeking out can soften a day. . . .

And I will soon have a few white garden roses to add to this still-life!

This is the cloth I finally chose for the table. So perfect for spring with the lily pads and dragonflies. What a joy it must have been to make!

 I always layer smaller pieces over larger and plainer ones. I use these cotton drop cloths for millions of things.

I have admired this English ironstone creamer and sugar set by Meakin for years until I found a set of my own last year. Such a pretty little design.

Having a bit of Stafforshire here and there adds to the story.

The little berry creamer hasn't a maker's mark, but is probably English as well.

Finally, this sweet little tophy cup adds a little contrast to the group. It reads: "Best Hound, Cape County Fair Dog Show, 1925." Found for cheap at some long forgotton thrift store ages ago.

So that's the lineup for today!

How's your week going?

I hope you are surrounding yourself with a few happy things. . . .

So glad you stopped by!

'Til next time,

Jacqueline