Thrift Store Finds

It was nice having a super long weekend so I could do a little thrifting. I was lucky to find a few treasures.

My first score were these beautiful plates by Vernonware, called 'Tinkled Pink:'

And I was literally tinkled pink when I saw them. I love, love the pattern and was sad that there were only three plates to be found. I couldn't find any other pieces, but decided that I had to have them even though there were only three. This is a pattern I intend to add to. The plates are in mint condition with no chips or scratches.

It was also my lucky day to score an old MSL magazine that I didn't have, and a baking book by Nick Malgieri which I cannot wait to try some of the recipes. I also found a vintage beginner's knitting book. I want to do a project for Christmas that requires some knitting skills, so I thought this might help me.

On Tuesday I went to a different thrift store and found these beautiful dessert plates by Johnson Brothers, called 'Snow Crystal.' I loved the pattern and thought I could incorporate these in with some other Johnson Brothers vintage china that I have during the holidays. I did a quick search online to try to find out when they were made, but I didn't have any luck. If you happen to know when they were made, please let me know. I don't think they are very old, but the back of each plate is marked 'Made in England.'

And I couldn't resist these vintage pipe cleaners. I have no idea what I will use them for or if I will ever use them, but I loved all the colors. You just can't find pipe cleaners like these in the stores.

It was a great thrift weekend and I can't wait to go thrifting again. The hunt is on for more Tinkled Pink pieces!

Simple Abundance

My husband, the ultimate garage sale aficionado, bought this book for me about a year-and-a-half ago at a garage sale. It is a book I had heard a lot about, but never went out and bought for myself. I was thrilled and touched that he thought it would be a book I would enjoy and immediately I started reading each daily entry. 

Somehow though, the book kind of disappeared, probably when we had house guests and I swept everything in the closet to make my craft room/office/guest room presentable, and I simply - forgot about it.

I was cleaning out the closet today when I came upon it and felt that "Oh!" like I had just found an old friend. I took it outside and started reading. If you aren't familiar with the book, it is about the author's journey as she searches for her authentic self. She takes you on the walk with her through each day of the year as she discovers six practical, creative, spiritual principles: gratitude, simplicity, order, harmony, beauty, and joy.

I flipped to today's entry and it begins with a quote from one of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott: "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life." And I thought, "How very true." Sometimes, more often than I'd like to admit, I try so hard to make everything perfect especially when it comes to entertaining people in our home that I can't even enjoy the moment and enjoy our guests. Reading this was a reminder that my house doesn't need to be perfect to have friends over; that it's okay if the dishes aren't washed and someone pops in unexpectedly. It's okay.

The book isn't going back into my office - it is going on my bedside table so I can read it every day. I think I need this daybook of comfort and joy in my life right now. It came into my life a year-and-a-half ago for a reason and I think it has reappeared again for a reason. Serendipity? I think so.

A Book of Roses

When I was antiquing recently, I came across this small 1939 Penguin book on roses that includes 16 color rose plates. I was drawn to the tattered, well-worn cover with its old, dusty rose shade of pink. When I picked it up and saw that some of the pages were browning with age it made me wonder about the book's owner or owners and how much this little book must have been used and loved. 

The book is a short history of the beloved rose and includes color plate illustrations by Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759 - 1840) from his folio Les Roses. These are just a few.

Cabbage Rose (left) and Damask Rose (right)

Rosa nitida (left) and Sulphur Rose (right)

Rosa gallica

I have always loved botanical prints and I would like to try to enlarge some of these plates on a color copier and mount and frame them. I think they would look beautiful grouped together on the wall of the family room or even along the hall, don't you?

Winter's Tales

I recently found this 1942 edition of Isak Dinesen's collection of short stories, Winter's Tales, at the Goodwill. Isak Dinesen is probably most famous for her memoir, Out of Africa, which was made into a motion picture in 1985 starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. 

My heart skipped a beat when I pulled the book off the bookshelf. I love the graphic design and font style on the dust cover.

When I opened the book, I was delighted to see this beautiful bookplate! The graphic on the plate goes perfectly with the introductory sentence on the inside of the dust cover: "The eleven stories of this volume open a new world of enchantment and adventure..." Doesn't that just make you want to read the book from cover to cover?!

On the bottom of the inside back of the dust cover is this ad to Buy War Bonds.

And I found this interesting as well - an encouragement from the publisher (Random House) to send it to "some man in the services who needs good reading" after you have finished reading the book. 

Even though there's only a few weeks of winter left, I think this is a perfect time to lose myself in some enchantment and adventure!

The 3,000 Mile Garden

One of my favorite places to buy used books is at the Goodwill. Their book prices are very affordable (read cheap) and they are a great source for out-of-print books. I am always finding wonderful vintage, and not so vintage, cookbooks, decorating books, and gardening books. Recently, I found a delightful gardening book, The 3,000 Mile Garden.

The book is a collection of letters exchanged between Leslie Land, an American food writer living in Maine, and Roger Phillips, an English writer/garden photographer, who has a garden in Eccleston Square which is in the heart of London. Leslie and Roger met at a mushroom foray in New Hampshire, hit it off, and started corresponding about gardening, recipes, and other thoughts on their lives. The letters are flirtatious, witty, humorous, and very entertaining and gives a vivid picture of gardening in America and England.

When I did a little research on them before doing this post, I discovered that Leslie has a Web site, that she wrote for numerous publications, including The New York Times and was Senior Editor for Yankee magazine. I also learned that she was once a chef at Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley. Roger is an expert rosarian and has encyclopedias on mushrooms, roses, and trees and shrubs available online. Also, the Queen of England just this month honored him for his work for his "service to London Garden Squares." 


I also found out that The 3,000 Mile Garden was made into a PBS series in 1995-1996. I would love to see it, but I couldn't find it available anywhere online.

You can find a used copy of The 3,000 Mile Garden book at barnesandnoble.com or amazon.com. 

An Unexpected Pleasure

Every once in awhile you happen upon a book that makes you smile with pleasure at every turn of the page and keeps you wanting more. A friend of mine gave me such a book for Christmas. It is called, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, a novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It is such a delightful read that I simply CANNOT put it down and have even found myself sneaking a few moments at work to read a few pages. One of my favorite passages:

"Have you ever noticed that when your mind is awakened and drawn to someone new, that person's name suddenly pops up everywhere you go? My friend Sophie calls it coincidence, and Mr. Simpless, my parson friend, calls it Grace. He thinks that if one cares deeply about someone or something new one throws a kind of energy out into the world, and "fruitfulness" is drawn in."

Pick up a copy and read it for yourself - you won't be sorry!