Birdcage Deja Vu....

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This birdcage sits on top of the TV armoire in our living room. It may look familiar to you....


...because I showed you photos of it last year...


... when I found it (along with these two vintage frames) while junktiquing in New Hampshire.

The cage is flanked by the reproduction Staffordshire dogs that I got for Amanda last year...

They seem quite happy to be protecting it (although from what, I don't know!)

(mid 1950's... Nana lifting up my sister so she could see Pete the parakeet in his cage)

If you've ever read some of my older posts, you know I love vintage children's books... So you can imagine how excited I was when I happened across this copyright 1954 "Parakeet Peter" book (with the 29 cent price stamped on the front cover!)

It's just perfect! (This is exactly how my mom, sister, and I would hold our Pete's while teaching them to talk)...

We had a ladder and bell just like the ones pictured here...

And a few posts ago, I showed you a photo of my Nana's Pete with his bowl of water sitting in front of his cage, just like in this picture... Deja vu indeed!

Yup... We even had a mirror for our Pete...

Such sweet memories this book brought back!!!

Donna

Can you stand another bird cage??

I know I'm really milking these bird cage posts, but to be perfectly honest, I don't lead a very exciting life; therefore, I'm often at a loss as to what to blog about! (If you follow the widget links below each post, you can see all my previous bird cage posts!!)

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So I'm going to take advantage of my bird cage collection and string it along a bit more...


I found this beautiful vintage cage and stand while visiting western Massachusetts last year... Here's a picture of it in the shop, right before I carted it out to the van!


And here's the plastic Pete who lives in this chippy white birdcage, which now stands in a corner of our living room.



The very nice thing about plastic Pete's (as has been mentioned in previous comments) is that they aren't the least bit messy! Can you imagine what this scrapbook paper (that I lined the bottom of the cage with) would look like if that was a real parakeet up on that perch?

The base is also old and chippy... perfect for a shabby cottage look...

I sometimes decorate this cage for the holidays. This is what it looked like during October with a little white bird nesting on a big pink floral pumpkin!

And at Christmastime, it became a vintage barn for the glittery sugarplum reindeer that I painted...

And here's yet another blast from the past... My little sister and I posing with Nana's Pete (again, with his cage door open)... This is a rare photo from our old albums. Purchasing color film and having it developed was much more expensive back in the 50's, so this is one of just a handful of color photos that I have from that era, the majority being black & white...

Check back tomorrow for my one year anniversary giveaway post!

Donna

Mini Bird Cage... #4

This is something of a make-shift corner in our dining area, with all kinds of things sitting on top of each other!! (See all the rainbows from my window prisms?)


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I've had this mini bird cage for so long that I don't even remember where I bought it! It sits on top of a little mirrored cabinet which, in turn, sits on top of our little jelly cupboard.


I thought these parakeets were life-sized when I ordered them on-line a year or two ago. When I got them I was disappointed because they were so teensy weensy. But then I realized they were the perfect size for this little cage...


So little green Pete sits on the right hand side of the cage...



...while little blue Pete sits on the left...

And here's my beautiful Nana posing with her handsome Pete back in the 1950's. She absolutely loved her parakeet(s). In many of the photos I have of her with a bird, the cage door is wide open so her Pete could come out if he wanted. In the photo above, you can see that the cage door is open and she has put a little bowl of water in front of Pete's cage for him to bathe in. The writing on the back of several photos tell how Pete loved to bathe in these little water filled bowls that Nana put out for him...

I have a table very similar to the one pictured above that belonged to my mom. Some day I'll post about it. But just the other night I saw tables almost identical to this one at Target, except they were black and my Nana's was green.

By the way, I'm going to try to post my 'one-year blog anniversary' giveaway items on Saturday, so be sure to check back then, especially if you like birdies!!!

Donna

Bird Cage Love #3... Chippy Cottage Green!

Continuing with my bird cage collection....

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Last week you met Pete, who lives in this little footed cage on our kitchen counter.

And yesterday I showed you this white wire bird cage that is currently housing my philodendron plant...

Today I'd like to share a favorite old bird cage that makes its home next to one of the family room windows (all the better for the birds to see out!)...

I purchased this vintage bird cage from eBay years ago. I absolutely flipped for the chippy, cottage green color. It was also the perfect size for this old black bird cage stand...

I love the domed top, the deep base, and the scrollwork on the front.

And this is sweet Pete, a beautiful blue-green celluloid parakeet who spends his days swinging back and forth...

... while his friend, Miss Canary, spends her days eating! They are the best of friends and share the cage together... (just look at those perfectly chippy cottage green bars!!!!)

The scrollwork on the cage shows up better in these night-time photos...

I don't know if I'll ever get another live bird. I haven't had one since I was a teenager. But if I were to get one, I think I'd have to purchase a larger cage than what we used in the 50's... Looking at some of my old photographs, the cages seem so small. With all my talking about wanting a parakeet lately, the girls suggested we transform the windowseat area of our family room into a big cage and get a couple of parakeets! Wouldn't Spotty and Tiger love that!

Did you know that you can adopt birds from Petfinder.com? I think that's so great because if what I've read is true regarding most pet store birds (bird smuggling and bird breeding - think puppy mills, but for birds), I'm afraid it's not a very pleasant existence for these beautiful little creatures. I've added a link to Petfinder on my sidebar (just click on the parakeet photo), where every possible species of birds can be adopted. As a matter of fact, through the Petfinder website, you can rescue/adopt a wide variety of animals, from cats and dogs to birds, lizards, and farm animals... It's definitely a website worth checking out if you are looking for a non-human companion!!!

And I couldn't end this post without sharing another old famly photo of Pete... (Note: All our parakeets were named Pete)... Here, my sister and Pete are enjoying a warm summer day out in the yard. (I wonder if my sister was trying to capture a playmate for Pete??)

More cages to come in future posts...

Donna

Kitchen Counter... Sentimentality over practicality...

This is the most visible corner in my very small kitchen, and I'm afraid it's always been a bit neglected.... Several weeks ago I purchased this small candle lamp at The Christmas Tree Shop for my countertop, and that got me to thinking about doing a little arrangement of 'favorite things.' Other than the lamp, nothing is practical or 'kitcheny,' but it makes me feel good when I see it!
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Do you see the vintage cat planter that I blogged about 2 days ago? And Pete that I wrote about yesterday? There's also another little "Pete the parakeet" hanging from a cabinet.


I should probably turn the light on so you can see them... There, that's better!! The lamp needed a little bit of height in the back corner, so I sat it on the bottom of a green ceramic planter.


Okay, now I turned the lamp off so you can see the pretty blue flowered shade. Hopefully in the near future I'll be priming & painting my beige backsplash tiles, as well as re-caulking above the countertop. (I picked beige when we bought our house back in 1981. It seemed like a good idea at the time.)

Pete is really enjoying this little birdcage from Home Goods (they came in a variety of sizes... I don't have a lot of room so I got the small size... I loved the little legs and the bird finial on the top). Pete told me he feels very safe inside the cage...

... which is a good thing since Sally is constantly gazing at him (and doesn't she look shiny and clean since her bath?)... She assures me the gazing is because she loves how his blue feathers match her blue bow...

Since there's ivy in Pete's cage, and a little potted plant next to Sally, I decided to use Sally as a votive holder rather than a planter. Of course that could change if she ever gets moved to another location (which isn't out of the question since I often move things around!)

This little lamp really gives off a lot of light in an otherwise dark corner, which I now refer to as my little 50's corner since I have the vintage cat planter (that looks like it could have come from my Nana's house in the 50's) and the parakeets (which also remind me of my childhood in the 50's, as I mentioned yesterday)...

I'll be sure to post photos if (when) I get around to painting that backsplash!!

Donna

For the love of Pete...

Meet Pete. We owned several parakeets throughout my childhood years and all, but one, were named Pete (why the long succession of Pete's was interrupted by a single "Bambi" escapes me right now...) In any case, it seemed fitting that I name this little guy Pete...


My Nana also loved parakeets, so they were very much a part of my childhood, way back in the 50's. I'm very nostalgic about that era and I love to decorate our little cottage with things that remind me of that innocent time.


So when I found this little Lefton China parakeet for $3 at a vintage shop, he made his way home with me. I have no idea if $3 is a good price or not. I'm not into 'antique' values. Apparently there was a minor 'glue/repair' job on this little guy (although I'll be darned if I can find it) so it lowered his value a bit. In any case, I thought $3 was a more than fair price to bring home this little piece of nostalgia...

This was Pete's former home. These photos were actually taken last September. If you ever find yourself in downtown Clinton, MA, definitely pop into Viviana's Vintage.

You never know what you will find... New things are always coming and going....

...like these round framed florals...

All kinds of jewelry, including vintage clip-on earrings...

How about this kids' pink kitchen set?

There are lots of vintage clothes to check out...

...and many unique, one-of-a-kind items...

Anyhow, I thought I'd share photos of Pete with you because I worked him into a kitchen counter vignette that incorporates Sally, my vintage cat planter from the Salvation Army (yesterday's post). Hopefully I'll be ready to share pictures of them both tomorrow!

P.S. Sally has had her bath, so the 'grunge' look is gone - she looks mahvelous!!!

Donna

P.S. It's 1:54 PM as I'm updating this... I just looked at my little sidebar Weather Widget and we are in the middle of a HEAT WAVE here in New England - it's a balmy 61 degrees (with some pretty fierce winds, I might add!)