A study in black and white...

black and white cat shaped tin boxes that recently sold in the Etsy shop. (I had a hard time parting with these beauties, being the cat lover that I am)...

a vintage copy of Little Women, a beautiful prismed candle holder (thank you, Jill!), and a button vase on the mantel...

my lady head planter, 1950's hat, and ceramic hand (all thrift store finds), also on the mantel...

some old family photos (I love the dated short 50's bangs in one and the old 40's car and legs in the other!) along with a vintage wedding cake topper from the same era...

a couple of vintage Bibles and an old religious statue (all originally intended for the Etsy shop, but I'm having a hard time parting with them)...

the St. Francis of Assisi wind chimes that hang in my office window, again, thrift store decor...

Baby (literally the baby of the family) taking over 18-year old Tiger's bed...

and Tiger trying to decide whether to let Baby stay or not...(she did. such a good Tiger girl.)

Pop over to see all the other Show and Tell Friday participants at My Romantic Home.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Donna

A whining Witchy Woman... and lots more tweaking...

About a week ago I told you all I was sooooo lazy that I didn't even give Witchy Woman a scarf this year. Well she has been whining non-stop all week, begging for something a bit more than her pointy black hat...


And truth be told, I do understand. I mean Halloween is her holiday...


So I dug through my stash and found a vintage scarf and black clip-on flower for under her chin...



I'm happy to say she is feeling like the belle of the Witch's Ball now...


Okay, back to rearranging and tweaking... The pink polka-dotted pumpkin/pewter candleholder have been moved from the LR pie safe to the DR hutch...


...where the pewter candleholder now sits on the shelf beneath my Nana's photo (I am the lucky recipient of all of her china so she gets a place of honor over the hutch!)....

...and the pumpkin sits atop a small hobnail vase.

And the lamp that used to be on the LR pie safe is now on the little table next to the hutch...

It's nice to have a choice between soft lamp light and bright chandelier light at suppertime (maybe some day we'll get a dimmer for the overhead)...

I moved little Pete the Parakeet (in his HomeGoods cage) from the kitchen to the little DR table...

And last, but not least, I gave the top of the recycling bin a mini-makeover...

The swan was moved here from the half wall in order to make room for the fabric pumpkins...

I placed some of my favorite old books and a bird's nest around the swan, and it gives the top of this little recycling cabinet a whole new look...

So thanks for joining me while I tweaked this, and rearranged that, and gave in to a whining Witchy Woman...

I hear it might be SEVENTY DEGREES on Thursday so I might get to play outside, planting some bulbs!

I hope you all have fantastic weather wherever you are!!!

Donna

A little brass "book" bird,...

... bought during a day trip to Connecticut, looks right at home on the stack of books I also purchased that same day.


Last month I took Courtney to Connecticut for a weekend visit with a college friend. After dropping her off, Amanda and I set out to find a few junktique shops before heading home.


How lucky we were to find Blueberry Hill Antiques in Old Saybrook, CT! That's where I found my little brass bird (marked down to $1.50) and the majority of the books I bought. Most of them were from the FIFTY CENTS PER BOOK ROOM (actually, it might have been 25 cents - at least that's what Amanda remembers! I meant to post about this trip over a month ago, but with all that has happened I just haven't had time. Scary that in a month's time I can't remember if they were 25 or 50 cents!) I'm not sure if we hit a special sale or if those low prices are ongoing in that room, but we had a blast looking through the shelves of books!


This is my favorite - Little Miss Joy by Emma Marshall. It was originally published in 1892, but for the life of me I cannot find the copyright date in my edition. In doing a little on-line research I discovered that copyrights were not required prior to 1900, so I'm guessing this was printed some time in the 1800's...


I love it when the used books I purchase have inscriptions (everyone had beautiful penmanship back then!)... This faint pencil inscription reads, "Agnes Paulson, A Merry Xmas + Happy New Year. Your Aunt."


A pressed clover marks pages 94/95. Is that as far as Agnes got? Or does it mark a favorite passage, I wonder? The other books I purchased were One Jump Ahead, c1956; Lovely is the Lee, c 1945; The Cardinal's Snuff Box, c 1900; and My Friend Flicka, c1941 (that was one of my favorite TV shows from the 60's... yes, I was a complete horse nut)...


And look at these yummy children's books I found! The Lord's Prayer (copyright 1940), Hello, Joe (copyright 1961), and Through the Picture Frame (copyright 1944). "Nutty Sam" is the squirrel's name in Hello, Joe! (I think he lives in my yard now!)

And just look at this illustration from the Lord's Prayer book where the little boy is offering Sammy a peanut.... isn't it the sweetest?

One Jump Ahead, a book about horses by Pat Smythe, belonged to "Mimi Spencer" at one time, and here is the inscription in her book, dated June 1958, fifty-one years prior to me purchasing it.

I'll share some photos of Blueberry Hill Antiques in an upcoming post. It's an adorable shop and if I ever find myself back in Old Saybrook, CT, I'll definitely be popping in again (as well as another shop, Saybrook Recycled Furniture, Etcetera, that we didn't get to spend nearly enough time in before heading home!)...

Have a great week, everyone!

Donna

Bearly Read Books...

"Lord! when you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life..."

~ Christopher Morley

If you're a book lover who happens to find yourself traveling down Boston Post Road (Rte. 20) through Sudbury, MA, be sure to stop in at Bearly Read Books.

"The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television."

~ Andrew Ross

"Reading in a comfy chair is just like a little vacation."

(Read to your Bunny)

...and this is where we spent a good chunk of time this past Saturday afternoon. Just look at the cozy reading nook where you can leisurely look through the books before deciding if you want to purchase them or not...

Bears are clearly the mascots for "Bearly Read Books."

"When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does."

(Kathleen Kelly/Meg Ryan - You've Got Mail)

This is my favorite section of the shop... the children's books. Shelves upon shelves of the most incredibly illustrated children's books (my weakness). I found a few beautiful editions of "The Night Before Christmas" to add to my collection, and I'll write more about those come December... but tomorrow I'll share some of the other books I fell in love with (and therefore brought home with me!!!)

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves."

~Anna Quindlen

I just love that little shops like this still exist (sigh)... They are good for my heart and soul!~

Donna