That’s Early American Pattern Glass. I love the stuff. I love finding it in odd, out-of-the-way shops, bringing it home and cleaning it up. I love searching for the names of the patterns and reading about the companies that made this intricate, decorative glass. I love looking through books of patterns and pictures of the many, many kinds of pattern glass that others have found and collected.

What I don’t do, though, is collect it. I enjoy the hunt, the return to loveliness and the scavenger hunt to identify a particular piece. And then? I list it on eBay for sale, hoping a collector will find the piece that is just what he or she is looking for to add to their collection. You see, I have come to realize that I am not a collector. I love old things and enjoy using them daily in my home. But I am not one to put things in a showcase “for display only.” I appreciate those who do–I like looking at their collections and appreciate the effort they made to gather and document their finds. And I also appreciate how important collectors are to maintaining history. I am just not one of them. My role is the hunter/gatherer one and I am perfectly happy with that.

Here are some of the things I’ve found recently:

This is a compote (originally called a comport) in the Cathedral pattern, made in the 1880′s by a company called Bryce, located in Pittsburgh. It’s a large dish, standing over 8 inches tall and 8 inches wide. It is such a beauty,and who knew that they made such beautiful colors so long ago?

This creamer is in a pattern called Gaelic and has a lovely flower pattern and gilt trim. It was also made in the late 1800′s. I am constantly amazed that glass pieces survive all these years in pretty good condition. The pieces I am listing here are all over 100 years old, and I found them in junk shops, boxes of auction stuff, in yard sales, etc. They often have chips and usually the gold trim is worn but will we look this good at 100 years plus?

I love the color and shape of this pickle dish. The pattern is called Double Fan and Diamond, but I have not been able to identify the maker. It probably dates to the late 1880′s. I have brought quite a stack of books to help me with identification, and also found several excellent websites that provide color photos. It takes some detective work sometimes to track down the makers of pattern glass.

I like this goblet because of its name–101! Also called Beaded 101 and One O One, it is also over 100 years old. This one I found in an antique shop. The owner knew it was pattern glass but she wasn’t interested in finding out anything about it. Her passion is for other kinds of glass. So it came home with me.

This gorgeous amber tray was made by Adams & Co. in Pittsburgh around 1884. the pattern, which doesn’t show very well in my photo, is called Wildflowers. I found this one in a flea market, covered in dirt. It’s a good sized piece, about 11×13 inches.

There is a funny story behind this sugar and creamer set made by Tarentum Glass Co. I found the sugar bowl first in a Goodwill store. Several months later I went back to that store which is some miles from my home, and bought the matching creamer, not realizing that I already had the sugar! The gold is mostly worn off of the sugar bowl and it has some chips on the base, but the creamer is almost perfect.

And another piece with a story: I found this one in an antique mall, marked down drastically because it was chipped. Normally that puts me off, but I have learned that with this old glass chips are not unusual. I liked the shape and the bold pattern so I bought it. Research told me that this is in the Dewey (named after the Admiral) or Flower Flange pattern, made by Indiana Glass at their Greentown works around 1898. There are people who collect only “Greentown glass” so this is a very collectible piece, even with its chip.I am hoping a collector sees the listing on eBay and gives this dish a good home.

This is just a sampling of the EAPG pieces I’ve found recently. Most people see this glass and think it is cheap glass because it looks different from the glass we are used to seeing, but once you get an eye for spotting it, it becomes a quest to seek it out, wash it up and enjoy its antique beauty.

Recently I’ve been finding some pretty pink kitchenware, like these Libbey glasses:

Linking to these friends today: A Vintage Green, Colorado Lady, Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures, From my Front Porch to Yours and A Coastal Charm. Check them out to see lots of great thrifting finds and vintage items!

And I came home with all sorts of fun finds. Taking the slow way home can be dangerous if you like to stop at thrift shops and such places. Here’s some of what I came home with recently:

Two of my favorite finds were a cotton bedspread embroidered with flower baskets and a book called The Story of the Lily of the Valley. It’s a romance I think, but I just like the cover and the title. The metal switchplate is cool, and it will find a place here at the house. I liked the bird nests book and the Little Golden Books too. The crystal clock needs a battery (like the other half dozen I’ve bought!); the wedding cake jar needs cleaning but it has gold trim which is a little different from others I’ve seen. The amber bowl is 60′s or 70′s and the little dish inside it is apple shaped, so cute.

And last, a half-bushel basket with a nicely made cotton liner with a lace edge. I enjoy seeing work like this; someone took an everyday item and made it beautiful. Isn’t that what crafting is all about?

Not shown: many things. I may post more this week. Right now I need to get this lot off the table and into wherever I need to put it. I hope your thrifting adventures were productive this week.

Being on the road a lot last week meant many opportunities to do some looking in resale and thrift shops. So of course I looked. And found. Here’s some of what I found last week:

A good, but not yard-sale good, price on these white swirl mixing bowls. I have wanted some of these for a long time and finally found some in my price range. I’ve sorted through my other mixing bowls to make space for these two. I have this memory, perhaps from childhood, perhaps not, of applesauce spicy and warm in a bowl like this and have wanted to have one to put applesauce in ever since. Now I have two.

This cutting board intrigued me. I found it in Morgantown, WV. I suppose someone brought it home from Germany? Or is it Swiss? Or maybe it came from the Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Isn’t this bowl gorgeous? Found this one in Sistersville last weekend. The color is rich and the quality of the glass is excellent. I wonder if it’s Blenko? I searched for one like it online but did not find anything. If you know who the maker might be, let me know.

I just loved this red Baby Ben travel alarm clock. It works great. It’s in perfect condition, just needs a bit of cleaning up. At less than $1, I felt like I’d won a major score with this one.

These platters were my real deal of the week, I believe. This pattern seems to be rare and popular. Made by a company called Tepco, it’s restaurantware and quite heavy. The bowls are a pattern called pretzel and aren’t really valuable but I have several pieces and plan to put them all in my booth as a set. The platters are on eBay and two have already sold at my rather high (I thought) Buy It Now price.

Bright and cheerful Lemon Heritage items were sold by Sears as part of a dinnerware set. I was tempted to keep them but went ahead and listed them because honestly, I have nowhere to put them. I do love yellow, though.

I found this Anchor Hocking bubble pattern berry set for a real song. The luster of the marigold iridized finish is really something. I’ve listed this on eBay but it may end up in my booth if it doesn’t sell.

In my booth, green has sprouted. I stopped in today on my way home and it seemed like a few of these things were gone from the display. I added rabbits here and there along with the green to add a touch of springtime.

I made a few other changes in my booth too–I carried in 3 boxes full of stuff and there is still room for more. In this area the additions were the aqua kerosene lamp with a clear shade that has gold flowers in it, a lot of jewelry and a stack of plates, along with the Air Force clock and the amber hanging candle holder and a small oval braided rug.  Several things were gone when I stopped today so I rearranged again. I’ll go back later this week to add new items.

That’s a bit of what I found. How about you? Anything interesting this week?

Linking to:

There is nothing like variety, at least for me. I think I thrive on it.While family, storytelling, writing and gardening should have been enough to keep me busy in retirement, I seem to have added a part-time job: re-selling. But the rest of my life also continues and is just as interesting to me as it ever was. This weekend is a good example of how eclectic our days can be.

Friday was a “work day” for me–listing items on eBay, packing and mailing and adding to and rearranging my booth at the antique mall. While working on the booth, another vendor stopped by. She was complimentary about how it looked–and ended up buying the little green wicker shelf and the wicker chair, along with a few other items. That meant I needed to add another shelf for display and I also needed a place to stack linens for sale since I had them on the green chair. I noticed several other things had sold too, so I left feeling pretty happy about how things were going. We met two other vendors at the mall, and checked out the new booth that came in last week. This is a small mall with about 20-24 vendors; I’m not sure exactly because several of them have more than one space. The ones we spoke with seemed pleased with their sales and one lady was moving to a larger space. Even more encouraging.

Larry has been busy with his own list of work. He took a load of scrap metal to the scrapyard and sold it. It is amazing how much metal we can collect without really trying–my old washer of course was in the load, and Larry has been collecting the odd bits of copper wire and saving those to sell along with all sorts of other oddments. A load in our truck may bring between $50 and $100 depending on what’s in it; not a lot of money but I like that this stuff that otherwise might go to the dump is now being re-used.

He has also been working on his cabin and has two more courses of logs to go before the roof goes on. He’s been hunting for windows–then realized we had two from the cabin we took down in 2010 that would work just fine. He still needs to find doors; those may have to come from ReStore if we don’t stumble on some freebies. On his way home from selling his scrap he stopped to talk to a man who had just replaced his porch. The old porch roof was out in the yard and the guy said Larry could have it for the hauling off! There’s the porch for his cabin. The wood and tin are in great shape, not more than 10 years old. More recycling

While he was off taking care of those things, I had another project to try. Boy did I make a mess! But it turned out well in the end. I’m still not finished. Here’s what I was up to: last summer at a yard sale I bought a grocery bag full of those complimentary soaps you get at motels. The whole bag was 50 cents–I guess the lady traveled a lot and took the unused soaps from each motel stay. Now those small soaps are a pain to use and generally a lot goes to waste because they get so small so fast they end up getting tossed. I decided to try making all those little bars into standard size bars. First I tried melting them in the microwave. NOT a good idea. They didn’t really melt and they smelled so strong from the perfumes in them that I had to abandon that idea pretty quickly.

The next try was melting them in a pot on the stove. I put a bunch of them in the pot and added a little water, turned the burner on high and stirred just in case they might stick. I’d never cooked soap before! Well, they did soften but I had to add a lot more water. I kept cooking and stirring for about 20 minutes; then I decided to take some of the liquid out, cool it, and put it into an empty liquid soap container I had–just to see if it would work, you know.

It did! The soap came out foamy and just fine for use. I continued cooking the other soap until the liquid was really thick and most of the soap chunks had melted. Not all of them had, surprisingly–soap is made from fats or oils so it would seem to me that it would melt easily but that was not the case for some of it. I ladled it out into a plastic-wrap lined square pan and let it cool. I wasn’t optimistic at this point, I can tell you–some of it was hardening but some was sort of gooey and stringy. But after 2 hours it all hardened and I cut it into bars.

So from batch #1 I have nine big bars of soap and a bottle of hand soap. That “liquid” soap also set up and I thought I had a mess on my hands with hard soap in a squirt bottle, but it’s more like gel and it still works fine.

We had a lot on our to-do list for Saturday. I needed to go to Sistersville to check out the theater and other arrangements for next weekend’s storyteller retreat and I needed to take more things to my booth and replace the chair and the wicker shelf so they could go to their new owner. I also needed tires BAD–I was pretty much riding on air held in by thin, thin rubber. I have never been good about tires; I keep them until they are so worn out even strangers point out the fact to me. Last week I realized I’d pushed my luck as far as it would go, so we went in early Saturday morning to get them replaced. After leaving a painfully large amount of money behind we were riding in style again.

Next stop was the flea market that’s been running a half-price sale all week. I’ve bought a lot from them but there was a cabinet I really wanted. They weren’t open. Bummer. We waited a bit to see if they would open but no luck. So we left for Sistersville, and there I found a sweet little resale shop with all sorts of great stuff. Best find was a stack of 5 Tepco Banana Leaf platters. I remembered that this pattern was highly collectible so I bought them, a gorgeous modernistic blue glass bowl, an old jewelry box and several other really neat things. We went over to the Gold Derrick Gallery to meet with owner Terry Wiley, checked out the theater and made arrangements for the storytelling concert, then headed over to the Wells Inn for a delicious lunch. I checked with Kim Winslow while there to be sure we had the spaces needed for our retreat.

Then it was time to return to Ripley then to see if the flea market was open. It was–but the cabinet I wanted was gone. Bummer again. However, I did find a shelf that would work so we drove back to Ravenswood to rearrange my booth yet again. I noted more items missing which meant more sales. Happy dance! I got everything re-done and we added still more items. The booth is getting pretty full but I still see areas that could hold more so I’ll go back this week and add to it.

By the time we got home, we were both tired, and tired of being cold! It was a bitter day yesterday and we were in and out all day so we were chilled to the bone. A nice fire and some peppermint tea fixed us up nicely. Some early daffodils were about to open so I picked them and brought them inside to bloom, afraid the night’s cold would freeze their stems. Now the house smells heavenly and the daffodils are a delight for our winter-gray eyes.

Today we both had projects to do: Larry worked on taking apart the porch roof he’d been given and I worked on sorting some of the things we’ve bought recently. Two of the Tepco platters sold quickly on eBay and I also needed to pack the 8 amethyst plates that sold, as well as the Dansk placemats. I made a good Sunday dinner of ham, cauliflowoer and broccoli in cheese sauce, and baked potatoes. Then we took a road trip.

This time we drove to Spencer, a small town about 24 miles from home, to check on an antique mall there. I am thinking about opening another booth and this is the closest to home except for the mall where my first booth is. The drive was beautiful–the sun shining brightly and signs of spring everywhere. The mall is beautiful too, full of great booths and so much to look at. I talked to the lady who worked there and was surprised to hear that the city of Spencer actually owns and runs the mall. That’s an unusual setup but it has worked well for them and the mall made it through the recession in good shape. Their arrangements for vendors seemed good so I agreed to start a booth there in April. That gives me time to find shelves and prepare my stock without feeling rushed.

We took the long way home because we needed to stop by my son’s house on the way home to pick up his female dog. Larry will take her to the vet tomorrow to be spayed. She’s spending the night with us tonight; Tillie is such a sweet girl she’s no trouble to have at all.Larry built a fire and we all enjoyed relaxing in front of it at the end of this long busy day.

That was our weekend: junking, selling, organizing, recycling, road trips, experimenting, and cooking. I hope your weekend was just as interesting as ours was!

What does it mean to “live green?” Does it mean buying organic, locally grown foods, wearing  natural fibers, driving a hybrid, and using the new light bulbs? Or does it mean that you grow your own food, produce your own energy, and ride a bike to work? All of these are “green” activities, but there is another behavior that many West Virginians engage in without considering its environmental impact.

I’m talking about junking, and I do not mean the scrap metal recycling business that is keeping many families financially afloat these days.  Their hard work collecting scrap and taking it to the recycling centers is certainly helping the environment. I don’t know about you, but I like seeing loads of junk heading down the road because I know that another trash pile has been cleared, and someone is going to get some hard cash in their pocket.

The kind of junking I refer to is the kind I engage in regularly: shopping at yard sales, thrift shops, auctions and any other place that sells used. I am always looking for the unique, the old, and the unusual in out-of-the-way places. My whole house is furnished from these places. My adored Tappan Deluxe gas range (c.1950), for example, was sitting on a front porch with a cardboard for sale sign taped to it. My like-new gas dryer came from a Craigslist ad, and the ornate pre-1930′s clayback heater we call “The Beast” because of its phenomenal heating abilities was another resale find. Vintage dishes, stainless cookware, silverplate, crystal, hand-embroidered linens and everything else that finds daily use in my home was once someone else’s unwanted item. Even my clothing is secondhand. I can’t remember the last time I bought something new to wear-besides underwear and socks, that is. A woman has to draw the line somewhere!

While my main reason for buying secondhand (or third or fourth, who knows?) is because I enjoy the hunt for the unusual and the older, better made items, there is another benefit to junking: recycling. This country is awash in clothing; everywhere there are resale shops and yard sales where people try to dispose of their old clothes to buy new. Donation centers get overwhelmed quickly with clothing donations any time there is a natural disaster.

I was horrified last year when we were dismantling an old log cabin (to re-use for an addition to our house) to find that clothing that had been left in the cabin for over 30 years had not deteriorated at all. Think about all the millions of pounds of clothing discarded annually in our landfills. It is sitting there, not rotting away like cotton or other natural fibers, but retaining its shape and color for who knows how long. In the future, will buildings be built on piles on un-rotted clothing? Okay, that’s extreme, but you get my point.  The same is true of almost everything we use: if we discard it, the item is out of sight and out of mind. Yet it has to go somewhere and if it is a synthetic material odds are it will be around for a long time.

So here’s to all the junkers out there: may you live long and prosper, and may your tribe increase. The more of us who prefer to shop the used markets, the less the landfills will have to dispose of and the less oil and other resources will be needed for manufacturing. And that’s better for the planet and for every one of us.

A professional storyteller, Granny Sue has several published works, online at http://www.grannysu.blogspot.com/.

It was a cold icy Saturday but we headed into town anyway. We didn’t get far though before we got stuck–on our own driveway. We were talking and Larry was just dawdling up the hill when we realized the car was spinning and we were not moving forward anymore. Oops. The ice was a thin slick layer and we thought it was melted off. Not exactly. It took only a few minutes to got moving again, though. We kicked the ice to rough it up, tore up a small cardboard box I had in the car and put pieces under the tires and off we went. All-wheel-drive is great, but not perfect.

We had a few errands to do before we went to the junk shops, and we had lunch at our favorite mom-and-pop restaurant, the Downtowner. The folks who run it are avid square dancers and he is a caller too, and at almost 80 years old he is still going stron. Larry had his favorite–brown beans and cornbread and I tried the grilled chicken club sandwich. I will definitely have that again; it was delicious. As we watch our dollars more carefully now we’ve found that eating out for lunch can be cheaper than breakfast. That was a surprising discovery.

So what did we find when we finally got to the shops?

 This little lady is older than she looks. She is dated 1944 on the bottom, with a note saying she was made by “Mom Schmetzer” in Retsil, Washington. So how did she end up in a funky resale place in West Virginia? I don’t suppose I’ll ever know her story, but I can imagine many. Maybe she belonged to a soldier stationed in Washington? Maybe it was an internet romance? How do you think she journeyed so far?

Teabag holders shaped like beehives! They even came with their own little rack. Downside: one teapot-shaped holder is missing its spout. I still think they were a deal, though, and the wire racks are not easy to come by.

My British friends will be able to identify this metal pan. Anyone want to guess what it is? I was surprised to find it here because I doubt there are very many people who use these pans in my area.

This plate lives up to its name! It’s the Happy pattern by Mikasa and it’s a huge serving plate. I have noticed many people collecting these 70′s-vintage patterns, so I picked this one up to list on eBay.

Two pretty flower plates, perfect for spring decorating. I picked up a couple of small wooden display shelves for them too but don’t have a photo of those.

A four place setting of Fair Lady by Sevron. The set included cups, saucers, salad plates and dinner plates, along with a big serving bowl.

Now I am not a collector of statuettes either, but I know that many people collect deer planters and this one is a true beauty–even I like it! The artwork is just gorgeous. I believe this is from Japan, and maybe 30′s or 40′s vintage? Someone who knows better, enlighten me!

I am a sucker for embroidered work so this lovely dresser scarf called my name.

That’s a few of the finds. Many will be listed on eBay, and a few will find homes in nooks and crannies at my house.

Did you make any great finds this weekend?

I’m linking to Her Library Adventures, Boogie Board Cottage’s Masterpiece Monday and Apron Thrift Girl this week. Be sure to visit them to see other neat stuff people uncovered over the weekend!