Latest Projects, Part Two (and a teeny tiny announcement)

This is just a little beginning.  Poor Marie Rose has a Peek-a-Boo Sacque and Bootees, but no Bonnet to match!  And being a discriminating newborn, she no doubt wants her headwear to match her outfit.  I still haven't met her, but I hope to soon.  After all, it will be difficult to be Favorite Auntie if we don't get some bonding time in.

I am adapting another bonnet pattern to have the same stitch pattern as the Sacque and Bootees, and while this is relatively simple, it has its little challenges as well.

The real news is:

The Chiloquin Mani-Mitts are done!  I finished the right mani-mitt and decided that I had not only done it a little differently than the left one, but I had done it better.  So I had to take apart the left one, unravel almost half of it, and do it over!  I think it fits better now.  I was about to wrap them and send them on their way to Chiloquin, but guess what?  A.C. from Chiloquin is on her way here.  So much the better!  I look forward to a hug and a visit. 

 How cute is that little pincushion in the upper right hand corner?  It is vintage, and a homemade  craft.  Inside is a tin can of some sort, like tuna fish, maybe.  The lace edging is soft, like cotton, not stiff and scratchy, like the yucky nylon stuff you find now.  The bottom is covered with a round piece whip-stitched on by hand with neat, little stitches.

Well, now my teeny, tiny little announcement.  I am going to post the patterns I adapt on their own page. (See the tab above.)  In case anyone wants to give something they see here a try.  They will, of course be free, since I am entirely amateur, have no test-knitters or test-crocheters, and have no experience writing a pattern.  That being said, I will do my best, and welcome questions and critiques, deal?

Finally Finished!

Oh, I can't believe how long it took me to get these things finished!  I'm afraid Marie Rose will have outgrown them, and then they'll only be useful to her as doll clothes.

 The little sweater, or sacque, as it is called, is called the Peek-a-Boo Sacque.  I found the pattern on Ravelry, which linked me to a website generously offering vintage baby garment knitting and crochet patterns.  (Win!)  Many of the patterns are available in matching sets of garments, but this one was a stand-alone.

 I had to devise a coordinating pattern for the booties.  I adapted and modified another vintage bootie pattern.

 I'm mostly happy with the result.  I'm working on a matching bonnet now, but dared not wait to get these out the door.  Details on my Ravelry page.

My Walk

Gratuitous vintage sewing pattern only tangentially related to the following post.

I went out to walk the 3-mile loop, feeling all virtuous and hardy.  It had been raining, but stopped and I decided that even if it started raining again, it would cool me off and feel great, and it certainly wouldn't kill me.
So, off I went, with a bounce in my step, and a song in my heart.  It felt good to be out again; I probably haven't been out since June or early July.  I kept finding more important things to do.  But I'm feeling re-motivated, since I've been dreaming on and on about clothes, and thinking about how much nicer they'd look on me if I could trim a few inches from my waistline (say 10 or 12....), and how much better I'd feel if I could bend over to paint my toenails without holding my breath (as if the polish fumes weren't enough to make me feel woozy-headed!).
Monday (despite the holiday) is trash collection day on Old Pool Road, and a neighbor said hello from the end of his driveway, when he came to collect his empty bins.  "I hope the rain holds off for my walk," I said, as the weather is perfect standby for light pleasantries for such a chance social encounter.  He smiled, and looked up, and said, "Yeah, mebbe about 10 minutes."  On my way I went, picking up acorns, listening to the runoff of little streams, and admiring another neighbor's beagle.
10 minutes later, I was on the campus at UNE, and yup, a light rain started.  At this point, I am  3/4 of a mile from home, if I turn back, I'll be good for a mile and a half today.  No, I decide, it feels good, and it won't kill me; after all I'm a weather-hardy New Englander!
Now, I had prepared for the sun to break through.  I am seriously fair-skinned, have melanoma in a first-degree relative, and am
staunchly opposed to aging.  Naturally I wear sunscreen everyday.  Today, as I trudged along, pressing on uphill, and the rain fell harder and harder, the sunscreen began to run into my eyes.  Ouch!  I tried to wipe away as much as I could with a tissue, which didn't seem to help much; I kept going, now feeling drenched and stupid, and glad I hadn't worn any mascara, and wishing I didn't have almost 2 miles to go.
Then, like a princess in a fairy tale, along came my Knight in Shining Armor.  DH felt sorry for me, and came to pick me up!  Okay, so today's walk was a mile and a quarter -- it's a start, and as Scarlett would say, "Tomorrow is another day!"

Vintage Simplicity 4464

Here's a fabulous vintage pattern I found listed on ebay.  I didn't buy it though, because I haven't yet scrutinized my pattern stash for something similar.  I think I might have one or two that I could use as a starting point.  I may have to make some modifications to the style, to give it a side zip (or even a back zip), figure out what I want to do for pockets. I have a pocket style in mind, and I'm sure there is a name for it, but I don't know what it is -- think Dale Evans, and in the meantime I'll try to find a vintage photo that shows what I'm thinking about.  Another compelling reason to get this pattern is that blouse!   I love kimono sleeves, dolman sleeves, and batwing sleeves.  I find that styling to work really well with an overly generous bust, particularly if the waist is brought in with a belt, or cummerbund, as illustrated below.  And I love it used unbelted, over the turtleneck as shown in the upper right.

I'm trying to improve my blogging presentation skills. I wish I knew more about making photo collages without purchasing additional software or add-ons.  So, I've been playing around in Microsoft Paint, and reading online about how to use its features.

I wanted to put together a seasonal wardrobe inspiration board, like the ones I've seen on more visually appealing blogs, but I'm not there yet.  Here's what I have come up with so far, a basic palette.

And I even figured out how to change a color on a photographed image, and then collage the result.

It's not the inspiration board I envision, as that is beyond my skills at this time.

I guess it's more important to to make the actual clothes, then I can photo and blog.

To undertake a Me-Made Seasonal Wardrobe project, here are the obstacles to be overcome as I see them:

1.   My sewing room needs a major decluttering and reorganization.

2.  My dress form needs a breast augmentation, and then to be covered.

3. Then she'll need a name, any suggestions?  Better yet, if you do, save them, and when I get her done, I'll celebrate with a giveaway of some sort.  I 'll have to figure out something suitable as a dress form-naming prize.

4.  I need to select my patterns, then modify as needed, and grade for size, and alter for proportion.  My figure type is an inverted triangle.  At least my overweight figure type is.  I put all my weight in my bust and around my middle.  Years ago, when I was slim, I was more of an hourglass.  I'm a little tall, (almost 5'8"), and have a longer torso, and only slightly longer than average legs.

5.  I'll need to source fabric, which may be a bit of a challenge.  There is only one fabric store in spitting distance, and I would prefer to see and touch the fabric before I buy, as I am trying to coordinate my colors pretty tightly.  I think the colors I have chosen are universal, and should be easy to find, but it hasn't been that way online, so we'll see.

6.  Then there's just the making of muslins, cutting and sewing the garments.

7.  And then the shopping for shoes and hosiery, and the accessorizing. 

8.  Then the modeling and the styling and photos and the blogging!

9. Oh yeah, I forgot to add knitting 2 or 3 Shetland cardigans (and selling my plasma to buy the wool!).  After all, I'd like to be dressed at least as well as your average Shetland pony! 

What do you think?  Am I crazy to try this with the holidays approaching?  Or is it too hard to tell, since I haven't actually quantified the scope of the project, like how many of each type of garment.  I'll work on that part of the planning next.

Stuffed Flounder Casserole

I have found out a great deal more about the Rumford Complete Cookbook since I posted last.
“In 1816, Benjamin Thompson (1753-1814), also known as Count Rumford, a British physicist, inventor, and social reformer, bequeathed an annuity of $1000, a reversion of a $400 annuity he bequeathed his daughter, and his residuary estate, to Harvard College for the establishment of a professorship to "teach regular courses of academical and public lectures" in the field of the practical sciences.” (Reference found here.)
Another source clarified that Thompson was born in America, but emigrated to England:  “In 1753, Benjamin Thompson, an American born in Woburn, Massachusetts, escaped from "political complications" in this country by moving to England. There he served in the English army until 1784 when he entered the service of the Elector of Bavaria. For the following 14 years, Thompson devoted his time investigating ways of supplying nutritious foods at the lowest possible costs to the State. For his brilliant success in this endeavor, he was knighted "Count Rumford." “  The same source indicated that in 1854 Harvard Rumford Professor Eben Horsford joined with George Wilson to found the Rumford Chemical Works in Rhode Island (or Massachusetts, depending on where the state boundaries are drawn!).  Their most popular product was “Horsford’s Acid Phosphate”, and was marketed as a remedy for “mental and nervous exhaustion” and a myriad of nondescript ailments.  It was to be stirred into water or milk, and drunk as a “tonic” refresher.  (I want to insert here that having grown up in Southeastern Mass, what is today known as “soda”, “soda pop” , or just “pop” is still commonly referred to as “tonic” in that geographic area.  I suppose this history may be why that is.) I believe this may have preceded, or introduced the popularity of sugary flavored drinks with “fizz”, such as “cherry phosphate”, “lime rickey”, etc.  I don’t know why they are now carbonated instead of phosphate, though.   (With special thanks to myclabbergirl.com, from whose home page I “borrowed” this picture.)
Eventually the company marketed a mixture of calcium acid phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, and cornstarch:  originally Horsford’s Baking Powder, and later (and to this day) Rumford Baking Powder! (For more on baking powder, read this.  As a biochemist, I find this fascinating, but I don’t expect everyone to feel this way….)
Now, about the cookbook:  as far as I can tell, the first cookbook was published in 1908, although there were pamphlets before then, most likely promoting the use of Rumford Baking Powder.  I was thrilled to discover that they employed recipes of Fannie Farmer, of the Boston Cooking School.  (I am on the lookout for an old edition of her cookbook, that would really shine in my little collection.)  After her death, they employed the expertise of  Lily Haxworth Wallace, a home economist who emigrated from England, and lectured all over America, on domestic science topics in the early part of the 20th century.  (Oh, how I would love to have been in the audience!)  In my research on the cookbook, I discovered that there were printings from 1908 into the 1950’s, and there are many fans and collectors out there!  I feel so lucky to have stumbled across this one.  (And it’s a crime that I got it for a quarter!)
As a coastal-dweller, I always try to serve fish or seafood on a regular basis, both for the health benefits, and to support the local economy.  It does take a little more planning, as it does not keep well, and it’s best to prepare and serve as fresh as possible..

Well, this time they had a little markdown on flounder, and having never had flounder (I usually serve haddock, cod, or tilapia), I decided to give it a go.  I wish I had taken pictures of the process, but frankly it didn’t occur to me that it was a blog-worthy topic until I had a dish ready to serve to my guinea pigs family.  With the above suggestion for stuffing as my inspiration, I made the following:

Stuffed Flounder Casserole

This was inspired by my vintage "Rumford Complete Cookbook", in a section describing how to bake fish, and giving a stuffing recipe. Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Yield:
Serving size: 6
Calories per serving: 498 Ingredients:
2 pounds (approx) flounder filets
cooking spray
3 slices stale bread (I used a torpedo roll, torn up)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup instant potato flakes
1 tablespoon dried cilantro
1-1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 sweet onion
1/4 stick  butter
paprika
Directions: Prepare a large (9"x13") baking dish by spraying generously with cooking spray. Wash and pat dry the flounder fillets. Lay most of the fillets in the bottom of the dish, aiming to create a uniform thickness layer of flounder. This will take more than half of the fillets. Tear up the bread into small pieces and put in a bowl with the milk, allowing it to soak while you measure out the other ingredients. Add potato flakes, parmesan cheese, egg, pepper, onion powder and cilantro. Mix it up with a fork. If it is soupy, add bread crumbs to thicken. It should be a little like pancake batter. Layer this stuffing all over the fillets, spread it evenly. Lay the remaining fillets over this stuffing layer. Mix together the bread crumbs and grated cheese, and sprinkle about 2/3 of it over the top layer of the fillets. Slice the sweet onion into rings, and separating them, scatter them on the top. Sprinkle the rest of the crumbs and cheese, dot with butter, and sprinkle with paprika.
Bake in a preheated 375 deg oven for 25 minutes. Then broil for 8- 10 minutes to brown the topping and caramelize the onion rings.
Serve with lemon slices for garnish. Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
I over-broiled it by a minute or two, so it looks scorched, but I must say that my finicky family found my flounder fresh, flakely and flavorful, not foul or “fishy”. (Forgive me, if I have failed to be funny.)
I steamed some broccoli rabe (which I had never done and will likely not do again, as it was terribly bitter) to serve with it.  That is the green stuff in the RevereWare saucepan above.  Pretty but not too tasty.
Are you still awake?  Thanks for reading all the way through this long post!  Happy Weekend!

Rumford Complete Cookbook, 1926

I showed a glimpse of this old cookbook the other day.  I loooove reading old cookbooks.  There are so many hints to the past, so many “why?”s answered about how we came to do things the way we do today.  And sometimes they afford us a personal view into just one life, or household.  Remember this cookbook, when I found the movie theatre schedule?  This "Rumford Complete Cookbook" had a little offering for us too:


And I didn’t know about the potential benefit of waiting before placing my cake in the oven.  That’s especially good to know if you forget to pre-heat your oven.
I especially love the cookbooks that have come from the test kitchens of the companies that made the ingredients.  I figure they were motivated to have the most successful recipes where their products will really shine.  Have you ever visited the King Arthur Flour website?  Beware if you are a carb-a-holic like me, you can bake yourself into a carbohydrate coma!  (If you have hours of time to dispose of, go take a look at all the recipes for the Easter and St. Pat’s baking you could be doing, Hot Cross Buns, anyone?)  And they have on-site classes.  One of these Decembers, I’m going to sign up for Christmas Cookie Baking, or Gingerbread House Making.  I bet it is quite an experience.
The Rumford Cookbook doesn’t tell you baking temperatures, yields, or nutritional information.  It uses phrases like:  “Bake in a moderate oven, about 45 minutes”, and  “…cook very gently one and one-half hours”.  There are recipes for Ox-tail Soup and Mutton Broth.  There is a whole chapter on Recipes for the Sick, including such tasty offerings as “Barley Water”, “Junket Eggnog”, and “Wine Whey”, and when you can progress to something with a little more thickness, there is “Corn Meal Gruel” and “Arrowroot Gruel”.  I don’t know where one procures Irish Moss, but perhaps if you are sick this weekend, you could have someone make you the following:

Irish Moss

1 small handful Irish moss

3 cups milk (surely whole milk was intended)

1 level tablespoon sugar

1/3 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring (do you own a 1/3 teaspoon measure?  I don’t)

Wash and pick over the moss carefully, add it to the milk in a saucepan, and simmer the two till the moss begins to dissolve.   A double broiler is preferable as it prevents too rapid cooking.  In about twenty minutes, if the moss is dissolving, strain through cheese cloth, add sugar and flavoring, and turn into wet moulds or cups to cool.  Serve with cream and sugar.

 

Well, this post is getting long, so I will end.  Next time, I will share my adaptation of a recipe for stuffed fish.

Edited to Add:  I found some very interesting information about the use of Irish Moss for medicinal and nutritional purposes here.  I will be looking about in the coastal rocks for this stuff now.  It apparently is basically a seaweed, and functions like a thickener (it is a source of carrageenan, as used in ice cream), and the result of the above recipe will probably be like a jelly or custard.  Probably easier just to make tapioca!

Oh, you meant the Layer Cake!

This is just a gratuitous picture I took on Monday.  It was overcast and a little rainy at times, so I set up on the back screen porch to take advantage of what natural light was available.  There are some vintage thrifted items here of which I am fond.  Front and center is the Japanese Lustreware Sugar Bowl.  No lid, but I couldn’t leave it as I found the shape so appealing, the color so fall-ish, and I remember thinking it reminded me of a pumpkin, and it is in quite perfect condition.  I’m not above cutting out little paper jack-o-lantern facial features and sticking them on.  Hmmm… and maybe filling it with candy corn!  (If you find yourself falling for it, I listed it in my Etsy shop.)  I think I may have mentioned (maybe once or twice?) that I love old kitchen items, so of course it was love at first sight  when I found the small milk glass mixing bowl (it has a pour spout) with the iconic Art Deco parallel raised edges (think “echo”).  I don’t know if the grater is really very old, but it is very heavy, like the older ones.  Of course the milk bottle has the distinction of having my personal monogram on it!  Almost like the one I wear on my chest (no, not the Scarlet one).  And finally, that lovely dinner plate.  That is the Taylor Smith Taylor Brocatelle pattern.  I don’t know when it was designed, I just know I like it for the pretty little images, and the soft colors.  I had picked up dessert plates several months ago, and had never seen anymore pieces until last week.  Just one plate, and now it’s mine.  Doesn’t it look great with lustreware?  And it goes well with green or brown transferware.  With only limited pieces, I have to look for ways to mix and match.  Not that you’d notice, but the whole arrangement is on a new-to-me thrifted bread board.  I’ve been making bread for about a year, and wanted a bread board like my mother’s.  But I never see them in stores.  Well, except now in the Goodwill outlet.  Yippee!
I’m a sucker for pretty home dec and entertaining magazines, with their glossy styled photographs.  Some days I think I should be a Southern Lady, and for one year I had a subscription to the mag.  I start to drawl (and drool) while I’m reading one.
I think Phyllis Hoffman is the Southern Martha S.  She has Victoria, Southern Lady, Tea Time, and probably some others.  I couldn’t resist the Celebrate Autumn one.
How could I with that crazy cake on the cover?  We have one late September birthday and a mid-October one.  Surely, we could enjoy a new cake recipe this month.  This cake is why I had leftover buttermilk and caramel topping sauce to use on the coffee cake.
I had to show you what was left of the cake, even though much of the caramel frosting had slid off.  (My fault:  I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to consistency when I was making it, I added more milk than called for, and guesstimated the volume on the caramel sauce).  I am showing the jar, because the recipe mentions using Smucker’s, and I was feeling a little virtuous about using a lesser-known brand, Mrs. Richardson’s.  It was priced less and had more!  I really couldn’t tell you how it compared in taste, consistency and appearance.   That would require a side-by-side taste test.  Gee, that could be fun. I was supposed to make milk chocolate curls.  I don’t have any idea how to do that.  Anyway, I used Baker’s Semi-sweet chocolate, which just broke right up as we tried to shave it, so it is “flakes” instead of “curls”.  But the taste was perfect.
If you run into this magazine, it is worth the price.  Lots more recipes, great table and serving suggestions.  Gorgeous pictures.

I am so glad you asked….

About Sunday’s coffee cake.
You see it gives me a chance to blog about Grammie’s cookbook.

Remember here when I thought her cookbook might be the one in the picture?  Well, it is.
Only hers was a working copy, as you can see.
Let me show you  some evidence of its working life.  There was this little tri-fold pamphlet advertising coming movie attractions inside the front cover.
My parents’ hometown is a little hard to find.  It’s tiny and far into Maine’s western mountains, near the Canadian border.  There isn’t a movie theater now, but in the days before television was available in remote areas, entertainment was cultivated within the community.  I have heard stories of movies and Saturday night community dances.  My grandmother helped arrange some of the dances, I’ve heard.
Here is what was playing:

These movies, for the most part, were released in 1951, two of them in 1952, and a quick check of the 1952 calendar to see if the days of the week matched the date and I confirmed that this advert was from Spring 1952.  I’ve heard of most of the stars, but I’m disappointed to say that I haven’t seen any of the movies on TCM.  Maybe “Samson and Delilah”.

This little cookbook is geared to baking, no surprise since it was put out by General Foods.

It was an opportunity for them to promote their products.

And to educate the home baker; after all, successful consumer baking means healthy sales of baking products, right?  (Those Madison Avenue-types can’t fool me.)Here’s the recipe I made.   Well, with a few tweaks.
I had a little buttermilk and some caramel syrup left from a cake I tried on Thursday.  So, I worked it in.

I substituted about 3/4 cup buttermilk for the 1/2 cup milk.  And I had about 1/3 cup caramel syrup.  I warmed it with the butter to spread over the top of the dough.  Then I sprinkled a few chopped walnuts over the sugar-flour-cinnamon topping.  It took a little longer to bake than I thought it would – does buttermilk do that?  But it was yummy!

I especially like the way they spell out the techniques for those of us who will always be learning.

Give the recipe a try!  But don’t forget: 

It’s A Wise
Woman Who Knows Her Baking Rules!

A Little to the Left…

Of the fireplace that is…..
You’ll find a shelving unit.  Not a buffet, hutch or china cabinet, to my dismay.  But I shouldn’t complain.  I bought this piece of furniture over 20 years ago from This End Up Furniture.  It isn’t my taste now, but I am grateful to have had and used it all these years.  At one time it was our entertainment center.  We had the TV and VCR (remember those?) sitting inside it.   And we had lots of Barney and Disney videotapes on the cabinet shelves behind the doors on the bottom.  And really, it is very useful as dining room furniture now.  You see our dining area has virtually no walls!  On one exterior wall there is a fireplace in the middle leaving about 4 feet of space on either side.  On the other exterior wall there is essentially a glass wall.  There are 3 sections, the middle is a sliding glass door opening onto a screened porch, and on either side are matching floor-to-ceiling windows of the same size of the sliding door.  The 2 interior boundaries of the dining area are:  a wide arched doorway opening into a living room, and an open area stretching into the kitchen – no wall at all!  So you see there is no place for a buffet and hutch.  If I had a piece like this (I wish!), I would have to convert the 4th downstairs room (a den affectionately known as the “man cave”) into a dining room, just to take advantage of the wall space!

I do think however, for a future project, I will cover the back with white beadboard or wallpaper or fabric or maybe just paint it.  I could approach it like Rita does and change it with the seasons.  (In the post linked above, she is using plain brown craft paper, but you may see other brighter backgrounds during previous seasons.)  the other idea I’d like to steal from Rita is to glue a strip of quarter-round molding about an inch from the back across each shelf`, to serve as a plate holder.  I love this pheasant.  I guess he’s a planter.  I just found him recently, out thrifting of course!  I have him holding some old silverplate spoons.  I also thrifted  the larger plate in the back.  The smaller plate (mostly obscured) is a little souvenir plate from a little town in Maine.  I love the apples on it.

I count the apple cookie jar a huge thrifting score.  I have no idea if it is a vintage item or a repro, and I don’t much care.  I have just always loved rosy red apples, so cheerful!  And then there’s the pink (red?) transferware.  I don’t have a full set, just:  4 dinner plates, 5 saucers, 1 teacup and 1 cake plate.  That’s the fun of collecting.  I never know when I’ll run across more.  I like the oak leaf and acorn border.  The one little bread & butter plate is from another pattern, but I couldn’t just leave it there.  That is a real bird’s nest, found on a Christmas tree one year, and inside it I placed a little apple candle, a perfect fit.

You know when you poke around at a thrift store (or any store), and you find something that you know immediately is going to come home with you?  It sort of takes your breath away, and you instantly know that the one piece has made your shopping a success.  That was how I felt when I found the little hand-painted toed teacup and saucer.  And months earlier, when I saw the little creamer to its right.  A better picture of it is here.  And you can see that I have added a dinner plate of Taylor Smith Taylor’s Brocatelle.  (Can I tell you a secret?  There were more of the teacup-and-saucer sets, painted differently, you will see them when their seasons come.  Shhhhh….don’t tell.)

This is an eclectic mix.  (I guess it all is, really.  I wanted it to be interesting to look at, as well as celebrating Autumn colors.)  The little brown beanpots in the back came from my father’s house, as did the plate they are on.  The tea strainer was a thrifting find.  Front and center is one of only 2 brown and white transferware  pieces I have.  (All the others are brown/multi.)  The other is barely visible to the right.  The jar earned its way by having little beanpot-type ears.  Now, does anyone know the purpose of the lemon-shaped pink dish with the gold wheat motif?  I think it may have been a little ashtray?  But I will use it as a spoon rest.  It is Lenox, and I found another, same shape, ivory, no motif.


That tiny rose is petit-point, I think.  You can see 2 orphan pieces of brown/multi transferware in the back.  I love the autumny colors of the flowers on the little b&b/dessert plates.
******************************************************
And now to the right….
I’ve done a tiny bit of revising of this little cabinet since the last picture:

But it still needs work before I shoot more pictures.  Now there is a bright yellow chrysathemum in the orange plant pot.  The wreath needs some decorating, and I plan to drape the doors and drawers with some vintage linens.  Soon.
But we can look at a couple of close-ups.  Here is some of my gorgeous Royal Worcester Evesham Gold.

The little clock is an inexpensive item I thrifted for a song.  I can hardly resist a pretty clock.  I’ve never been so lucky to run across any of the vintage clocks that Becky at Sweet Cottage Dreams collects.

This is a blurry picture, but I wanted to show you that I had found a place for the mercury glass vase, and for a few of my brown teapots.  I found another just the other day.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little tour to the left and right of the mantel.  It is a work-in-progress, and a little difficult to photograph.  For such an open space, it actually is very dark, very little natural light makes it in here.  More to come, soon!