Can One Have Too Many Cats?

These were found at an estate sale last weekend and are just a tiny fraction of what someone had collected since the 1940's.  The cats were displayed on 3 long tables and looked very impressive. 

Oh, there was a mouse too.  Only one though , and I grabbed him fast as he had a pleading look in his eyes.

Most will be for sale soon in Sky's The Animals Magic Shop on Etsy to benefit animal charities.

Our Unusually Friendly Wisteria Plant And Other Green Friends

My husband loathes this Wisteria plant but I love it because every year it wants to come inside our home and keep us company, (or maybe it's spying on us...hmmmm....not sure.).  In the fall, I prune it,  but come spring, it's tendrils once again gravitate to the front door, slowly but surely making their way to the door's edge,  and eventually getting inside the house.  First a tiny leaf tip appears indoors,  then a stem, until finally...it's in!  It doesn't seem to mind that I open and close the door often ,which can't feel too good. So how you can not love a plant that wants to come inside with you?  I think this plant deserves a name.  Maybe my husband will like it more if it has a name?

I got this metal cat at a yard sale and the concrete pedestal too.  It's underneath the wisteria plant.  The woods here are filled with ferns and they pop up everywhere.

This is our front door.  See the wisteria growing to the left and right?  The porch and stairs really need a good scrub, so don't look too closely!

A purple gazing ball  with a make-do birdbath in the background and a cherry tree in back of that.  When we built the house, we splurged on some granite walls both outside and inside.  Need to do some pruning and weeding here too - oh my!  The English ivy provides food for the deer in the winter.  They pretty much strip it bare, but it all grows back in the spring.

A closer look at the birdbath which is made of pottery and set on a clay pedestal - both yard sale finds. Paying for the house and 12 dogs, even after 23 years, doesn't leave much money to spare so almost everything outside was collected over time and purchased at yard sales and flea markets for a few dollars.

An antique grinding wheel, for sharpening axes and such. Richie made a new stand for it, of oak.  He did a great job copying the original exactly.

A closer look - with a few other grinding wheels underneath I've collected here and there.  The largest came from the Freetown State forest.  Most of the ground on this side of the house is covered with moss which is great because you don't have to mow moss.

I love the scent of Lily of the Valley.  It was growing on the land when we bought it. 

A German Shepherd guards the front door of the kennel building which is attached to our home.

And here's the dogs' favorite saying...

Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Wild Pink Ladyslipper Orchid Flower or Moccasin Flower

Wild ladyslipper, growing in our woods.  Beautiful, isn't she?  This one is a pink ladyslipper, or moccasin flower, because of the shape.  They can live to be over 100 years old, but are very particular about their habitat and don't take kindly to being transplanted.

Rare Miniature Book By Tasha Tudor

I first "met" Tasha Tudor at my local library in book form and admired her from that moment on.  Many books have been written by Tasha and about her, so I won't go into her history and accomplisments other than to say she was an extremely talented and creative woman who lived her dream to the fullest.

What I'd like to share is one of her rare books, entitled "Mouse Mills Catalog For Spring",  which measures only 5" tall and 3" wide.

I read that Tasha created the Mouse Mills catalogs for her children, which were delivered to them by Sparrow Post and published quarterly - one for each season.  How long she did this for I don't know.  Timothy Deer Mouse and his family were the proprietors. 

This catalog contains illustrations of different items the children could order for themselves, their dolls, and their stuffed animals that Tasha would knit or sew for them.  They paid her in buttons which were earned by doing different chores around the house.  Prices ranged from 10 to 100 buttons.

Inside the catalog, Tasha attached samples of ribbon, yarn, and fabric choices.

Throughout the pages,  her sense of humor was apparent as was her love of animals.

The clothing and accessories were styled true to the fashions of the 1860's and 70's, (but the period Tasha loved most and felt she belonged in was the 1830's).  Below are some bonnets and  stockings which "don't sag".  Garters could be purchased to hold them up in either red or black.

There were even offerings for the Clerical Crow, and the Bird About Town.

And to make things complete, a note to valued customers with a page for suggestions to improve the business.

All in all, the catalog contains 40 pages, quite an accomplishment for a single mom who did everything the old fashioned way without the benefit of plumbing and electricity!

Here's a photo of Tasha Tudor with one of her goats. Tasha said a lot of interesting things, but my favorite quote by her is,
 "I spell God  N A T U R E".  Hope you enjoyed seeing this little book!

To learn more about Tasha Tudor and visit her family's website, click here.

Increased Spending At My First Antiques Show Of 2010!

I set up at the first antique show of the season the second to last Saturday in March - a small show in a local church hall less than 10 minutes from my house. Here's my table below.

This area is not especially well off so I brought items priced no higher than $25.  What people buy and how much they spend at this show is usually a good indication of how the rest of the season will go for me.

Vintage jewelry was the best seller, as usual, with sterling at the top of the list, and rings being the most sought after - I sold every single ring that I brought that day!  Vintage sewing buttons, linens, hankies, lace, kitchen items and ephemera were the most popular after that. 

Women seemed a little more interested in decorating themselves rather than their homes, and most were buying for personal use as opposed to buying gifts for others, which were two big changes from the past few years.  They were most pleased with items which could be used for multiple purposes.

Normally, almost half of my sales are to men and this year was no exception. The guys were most interested in ephemera, things made of bone, wood,and metal, and unusual objects that were interesting as opposed to beautiful or functional.  I noticed that in the morning, the male antiques dealers were there early waiting in line for the door to open but the female dealers were not, with very few attending the show at all.

As far as haggling over prices, most customers didn't.  Actually there were only two. Most folks just wanted to treat themselves in some way but were still cautious about what they were spending and seemed to have set limits before arriving on how much they were willing to part with.

The womens' group in the church also had a space which included a large offering of linens; all washed and pressed to perfection by one of the group members. Their space is shown below.

All in all, it was a successful day for all the dealers and very few customers left empty handed.  I made about $80 more this year than last and am cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season!

One thing I noticed is that many people were talking about buying vintage and antique items because they were concerned about the environment and felt they were helping the earth by doing so.  I heard a lot about conserving resources and recycling/upcycling/re-purposing which made me very happy!

Personally, I've loved old things since childhood. I used to save my allowance for weeks in order to go antiquing during vacation with my parents, buying treasures such as marbles, seashells, and tiny glass animals.  Now, it's a full time job and although I don't make nearly as much as I did when employed by a large company, I have the pleasure of working with inventory I love, and helping the planet too!

Are Ladybugs Themselves Lucky?

Tuesday morning, much to my delight, a visitor appeared in my kitchen.  "Today will be a lucky day", I thought, "and look at all her spots!" Everyone knows that when a ladybug appears, you count their spots and that's how many wishes you get.  I immediately made a wish on behalf of a new (I hope) friend who had to put her elderly dog to sleep that day. 

Then I admired my guest for a bit and was impressed with how fast she could read.

After doing some chores, I returned to the kitchen and noticed My Lady, (that's what I named her - she looked so classy), was a bit thirsty.  She had perched on the edge of the counter in front of the sink, and was sipping from a drop of water.  Well, actually, she was more than a bit thirsty because she inhaled the water within seconds and seemed to want more. 

I obliged by putting a substantial drop of water on the counter away from the sink and pointed it out to her.

After happily drinking her fill, My Lady left a not-so-classy expression of her complete hydration on the counter and then fell asleep.

It was a Melissa day, which is lucky in itself because that means I have help in the kennel, and I heard the dogs announce her arrival.  Off I went to start the morning in Siber-land and the next hour was filled with feeding the dogs and starting work in my office which is in between the dogs' home and the humans' home. (In reality, they all come into the humans' home too and everything around here kind of belongs to them, including me.)

Going back into the kitchen, I remembered My Lady, but she was nowhere in sight and I wondered where she had gone.  Wherever that was, I was pleased with having seen her and glad I was able to help quench her thirst.

I opened the cupboard to the left of the sink with my left hand, looking to see what might be in there to eat, while turning on the sink's hot water faucet with my right hand, intending to wash the pan that was in there from cooking the dogs' breakfast .  

Much to my horror, when I looked in the sink, there was My Lady, about to be washed down the drain!

"Oh, NO!", I cried.  (Actually, I said something else.  However, this is a "G" rated blog.)  I quickly scooped My Lady up, and put her back on the counter.  But alas, I was too late to save her.  The hot water had done her in immediately, and she was gone!

"I'm so sorry", I cried, "I didn't know you were in there!".  There was absolutely nothing I could do to bring her back, so I gave her Reiki and wished her spirit well.

Being me, throughout the day I mourned My Lady (and the loss of my remaining wishes), and wondered what it all meant.  Did My Lady come and go with such drama in order to teach me something?   It wasn't about not drinking too much water because I don't drink enough.  It couldn't have to do with me drinking too much alcohol either because I rarely do, and my guests don't drink much either.  (Oh, I used to, but huskies and hangovers don't mix well.)  Did My Lady get herself in hot water because she was being greedy and went into the sink for thirds, reflecting my own behavior?  No, I didn't think it was that, and after all, I even used my first wish for someone else and had (temporarily) forgotten about the others.

After much reflection, I came to the conclusion that sometimes "stuff" just happens and it's got nothing to do with being lucky, or not. That, I believed, was what My Lady was telling me. But a short time later when I myself was expressing my own complete hydration, much to my surprise, I noticed this label on the back of my pants...

But actually, when I saw the label, it looked like this....

...which completed my lesson by clearly spelling out, in black, white and red, that although we absolutely can't always control our luck, we certainly can always choose how to view it ~

Thank you to My Lady, may you never be thirsty and may all your wishes come true!

Wild Turkey Neighbors

On my way downstairs on Thursday morning,  I was happy to see our turkey neighbors on the front lawn breakfasting on bird seed. The brown lumps on the ground are pine cones which we leave down until spring for the animals who like them, but they ignore those and go for the easy pickings.

Within seconds, along came one of the black feral cat twins, either Naughty or Nice.  The only difference between the two is personality, and actually over the past year, Naughty became nice also. 

The cats always stalk the turkeys but that's as far as it goes although the turkeys do move along eventually, more out of annoyance than fear I think.

These are called Eastern Turkeys and there are 15 of them; 1 male and 14 females.  This morning, the male and one female were missing, but I saw them all later on when they swung by again for second helpings. So perhaps those two were taking some time to be alone and we will have baby turkeys in the future. Occasionally one of my neighbor's peacocks will make the rounds with the turkeys, but not this day.

About 15 years ago,  there were no turkeys left around here, until about 50 were brought in, and a ban was put on hunting them. Now I see turkeys frequently and am always happy to find one of their feathers.

One day we were walking a couple of my huskies in the state forest and came upon a large tom turkey blocking the road.  His mate was nesting in the brush beside the trail with their babies and he made it clear we were to turn around immediately by stamping his feet and puffing himself up.  The dogs convinced him to let us pass and we literally ran by him. But in doing so, my kennel person, Melissa, dropped her pouch and had to go back for it.  I held the dog she was walking while she cautiously tiptoed back to where her pouch was lying on the ground.  As she neared the pouch, the tom popped back out of the bushes in a rage and proceeded to charge Melissa head on as she was running toward him to grab her pouch.  He was making horrible noises that sounded something like, "I'm going to kill you!".  Melissa grabbed her pouch just in the nick of time and sprinted away with the tom hot on her heels, flapping his wings and screaming insults at her.  Needless to say, we avoided that trail for some months to come!  To this day, when we pass that area, we always remember the brave and very effective turkey warrior who challenged two humans and two huskies to protect his family.