If NDL was a Bunny

This is the pattern of dishes she would eat off of exclusively. This is a serving platter.

Clover. From the '70s. 

By this company.

Would look great with a composed salad on top. And a ring of bunnies around it sharing lunch. 

Jelly Angels

Vintage Kerr jelly jars feature an angel above a crown image.

There are squat jars with the angel on the inside.

And slender jars with the angel embossed on the outside bottom.

We cannot find a really good explanation of why this image was used, 

but we like it very much anyway.

Maybe we like it even more because it is inexplicable.

Don't we all need angels watching over us in our domestic endeavors?

It is the most likely reason for our high success rate of jelly and jam setting despite our disregard for following directions to a T.

If only light bulbs came with a guardian to protect us every time we stand on a wobbly chair to change them.

Amish Modern

Before.

After.

Let's see that again.

Before - Amish Butterprint.

After - Vintage Charm Rise 'n Shine.

Wow.

Pyrex is celebrating 100 years with some fun updated products.

Coquina!

On our recent bonus trip to Florida we needed to choose a micro shell to collect as we were banned from bringing home our usual giant haul-o-seashells.

Darling, colorful little coquinas fit the bill.

So many on the beach this time. Even the one who discouraged the idea of taking home shells became addicted to finding the pretty pairs.

One of the only other bivalves to make the cut and join the coquinas in the carry-on bag looks like a Big Kahuna coquina, but it is really a sunray venus clam which we learned from our googling is tasty and may soon be more common on seafood menus near you (if you are in Florida).

Every time we think or type coquina we want to say Coquina! as in Tequila! The perfect, circa 1958, top hit of The Champs, soundtrack for sipping our Sunshine State vacation beverage of choice, the Grapefruit Margarita.

Blow Out the Candles

And then douse them. And then douse them again. And maybe one more time.

Fire danger is high today.... on Smokey's birthday cake. 71 years old. Last year he had a big do.

We were there. There was cake.

And we are 100% sure that Smokey's only wish when he blew out the candles was that we all remember....

Only YOU can prevent wildfires.

Grab the kids and have some fun learning how at Smokey's Outpost.

Vintage Lake Life

A few of our favorite things from the curated cabin tchotchke collection.

Never can have too many souvenirs of your own state. Big fish!

 From the mushroom decade. 1970s! Hull dripware fungus S or P needs S or P mate.

Frankoma made for the Oklahoma Golden Jubilee 1957. 

Who doesn't need a drink from a Cup O' Kindness every now and then?

We always pat down departing company and check their suitcases for this little gem that is the envy of many who have stayed in the vacation kitsch guestroom. 

Depending on the week or day you could score your own online without resorting to the old five-finger discount..

Ah yes, the grease canister. We have the entire set, but the coffee one is the most used and practical favorite followed by the grease pot as favorite in the curiosity factor category. 

Don't tell, but it is a very good place to hide things. No one suspects M and Ms to be in it and they are too afraid of finding old bacon fat to look.

Last, the vintage dish towel. Soft, absorbent, colorful, corny. Can't get enough of them. Products featured here: Frisco, Suz, 67 Sauce, and several with iconic label images or design, all cleverly avoiding copyright infringement. Perhaps the nascence of the knock-off phenomenon? 

One of these days we will actually move into this century with our decor, but the order of business at the cabin is lolling around, and even if change is going to happen, considering the pace of  lake life, don't be holding your breath unless it is because you are doing a cannonball off the dock.

Period Pieces

When we are sewing we often have the TV on for company, but it can be hard to find something for background filler that isn't annoying. 

Talk, reality, game, or home improvement shows, all are just so much noise. Soaps? Uh, no.

So our default is movies. Many of them certainly owned by the networks that run them over, and over, and over again.

13 Going on 30, The Blindside, A League of Their Own, You've Got Mail, Dirty Dancing, 

oh, and our all time favorite because it features flying cows and combines - Twister.

We can tune in at any point of these movies and know exactly what is going on. And we don't have to actually watch. We know the scenes so well, we can measure, cut, and sew while listening to the dialogue and soundtrack with the images in our head. 

It is a bonus if we turn on the TV just in time for the best scenes. 

Jennifer Garner getting the crowd going with Thriller. Tom Hanks telling a sniffling Evelyn that "There's no crying in baseball." Patrick Swayze getting Baby out of that corner someone dared put her in. Sandra Bullock standing up to gang punks while wearing a white pantsuit. 

Well these little tumblers that feature pretend play characters remind us of some of those famous flix.

Made in one decade, yet depicting another. 

Dirty Dancing for example was made in 1987, but set in 1963.  And despite good authenticity of the setting and details of a New England summer lodge including cars, clothes, and decor, the actors  all still have a faintly '80s vibe. Notably perms and mullets. 

Modified for sure, but not gone. We may have detected a few shoulder pads too.

So too these little pirates, indians, cowboys, knights, and spacemen look like they live in the era in which they were drawn vs. the time period in which they might really have lived. 

We find them pretty charming. Just as for our favorite TV and movies we are totally willing to suspend disbelief when we want to.

Survive a tornado by dodging a flaming oil tanker?!? Totally possible. Bring it on! 

Again, and again, and again.

Beautiful - Check, Useful - Check

Not since this wonderful find have we seen such an intriguing heart-shaped antique artifact.

Everything about it is charming.

The shape of the bowl with hand etched design reminiscent of  a heart monitor reading.

The stamped handle with twist pattern below.

More, vaguely Scandinavian hand etching on the back, but no maker's mark.

So pretty.

Again we quote the sage William Morris - "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."

Both is best.

Scenic Mountie

Here he is. The cutest little mountie ever, found at an estate sale, liberated from a doll collection display case and put back into service "defending the law" wherever needed. 

In the foothills. 

In the forests.

And in the mountains.

Of this educational book.

Not that he would ever sleep on the job, but should he ever need to play dead - to fool an adversary for example, his baby blue peepers close when he reclines.

Aloha

Found in an album purchased at a local estate sale.

Inscription - Jeanette 1942

Inscription - 

That 7th day

Here's to you "Fox" 

"Buck"

You too can have hair on your chest 

1939

He Saw, She Saw

Very first reaction? 

Some man retired and his wife told him he needed to get out of the house.

A self portrait of the man himself. Herman Rusch.

She, NDL, just documented the road trip stop in photos of the creations that said all that needed to be said merely by their existence. 

He, tried to interpret it.

Bottom line. Some man retired and his wife told him he needed to get out of the house.