Williams & Williams, Bunny and I are Tight

 Source


Okay not really.

I have admired Bunny Williams for many years, but I have never met her........

Unlike my friend, Joan, who was the envy of all design bloggers everywhere when she went to lunch at Bunny's here!

I just ran across something at her shop in NYC, Treillage, that I must call your attention to. 

Yes, call me smug.

Wonderful charger and fish plate at Treillage

Charming little egg bowl from Treillage.

Love this fish dish!

You could use this for all kinds of things from appetizers to dessert!

Great rimmed soup bowl.

All the above from Bunny Williams' Treillage.


The reason for my smile and this post is that I have collected Mexican pottery for many years - like 25 or 30 years.

I collect vintage pottery, but started with the pottery of Gorky Gonzales, a very talented potter from Guanajauto, Mexico. I bought my first pieces on a weekend trip to Nuevo Laredo in 1976.

I posted a little about it when I first started blogging:

See all those plates above the window - yep, all Gorky. See the three on the left - kind of square rimmed bowls - they were my first purchase. I still love them today.

Here is my dining table as it looks today.......

Love my chicken on top of my cook top. Sometimes she holds cookie cutters for me.

And here is where I make my coffee or tea each morning - one canister holds the coffee, the other holds tea bags.

Enough, you say? Okay, okay....... 

Maybe it's overkill ,but I do love my pottery and to see some of it on Bunny Williams' site is just sort of validating, ya know? 

So, like I said, Bunny and I are tight......

I wish.

Italian Stone Fruit

I began collecting stone fruit many years ago. In the world of collectors, we refer to it as stone fruit, although some people call it alabaster or marble fruit.  Made in Italy as early as 1900,  it became a popular decorative in the 50s. The vintage pieces have a nice, aged patina to them. There is also new stone fruit from Italy that is great looking as well, and if you don't have an affinity for old things, you can make a handsome collection with the new fruit.

I hunt for unusual pieces now, have been known to throw in a new piece if it is interesting enough,  and am quite wild for little obscure pieces that I have found, like hazelnuts, peanuts and almonds....so, technically it is not all fruit. There are even some vegetables out there to be found.......rare, though.

Joan, over at Anything Goes Here, has done a several posts on stone fruit and was featured in Country Living in 2001 here for her amazing collection.  I was a little late to the party and just commented on her stone fruit post today. She featured the collections of several other bloggers and I recognized this big, wonderful mound of grapes in an urn from Joan at for the love of a house. Check out her blog for lots of other beautiful antiques.

                                               

                                                 Then,                                                    

 Joan, of Anything Goes Here,  suggested that we combine our enthusiasm and link to each other. Great idea!

In fact, she is selling some stone fruit on her anything goes here marketplace and if you want to start collecting, here is a wonderful peach she has for sale!

Gather a few more and you can have a bowl full like I have on my coffee table!

Fredericksburg is known for our peaches, so it was only fitting that I gather a bowl full!

See the peaches hiding back there behind the bowl of mixed fruit?

My sweet daughter just went to the flea market at the Tennessee fairgrounds and surprised me with two more pieces of stone fruit. (I LOVE it that she has started hanging out at flea markets!) A girl just can't have too much fruit!

My friend, Barbara, whose home I featured here, has a marvelous collection of good, old fruit in muted, soft colors. When I am at her house, I covet her fruit. Sick. I know.

Barbara also has some incredible pear halves. Fruit slices or "splits" are harder to find and are desirable among serious stone fruit collectors. Many of them were originally made as bookends and finding a pair is really fun!

Here you can see my half pear and my half apple. Oh! and I spy a peanut.

Here are my grapes in one of my favorite tramp art pieces.

Last, but not least by any means, my blue grapes. Someone painted them long ago, and while that little bit of creativity could have been disastrous, they appealed to me in a weird way and over time I have grown to just love them for their worn and beautiful blue patina.

If you like stone fruit, visit Joan's etsy shop,  or look on eBay or at flea markets and antique shows. Some of the new pieces, like so many reproductions these days, will look like they are old. An honest dealer will tell you if the fruit is vintage or new,  and ultimately only buy what you love and want to live with, new or old.

The prices vary, so don't be discouraged if you run across a piece with a giant price on it - keep looking for what feels right for you. As with anything you collect, the more you look, the more discerning your eye will become. As you look more and more,  you will know which pieces of fruit appeal to you and what you are willing to pay.

Happy Hunting!

Traveling Dog Love

My pal, Buddy......making my days a little more interesting all the time!

I just read my friend, Joan's, latest post on her blog, for the love of a house, and was so moved that I took Joan's suggestion to copy it here to pass the word. In this time of discouraging news everywhere we turn, this is a positive story of good people making an impact in the land of dogs. None of us can fix the world, but we can jump in and make things better one step at a time.

If you are an animal lover, or just interested in doing the right thing, you will enjoy reading about these great efforts.

Here is what Joan has to say:

When we moved to New Hampshire we were shocked and surprised to learn that most of the animal shelters here are empty of stray or abandoned dogs. After asking questions and investigating we learned that this was due to New Hampshire's strict spay and neuter laws. While this is true, I think it has more to do with what is acceptable, and in this part of the country it is simply not acceptable to dump a dog, or let your dog run amuck and have liter after liter of puppies. We have lived here for almost two years now, and while we live in a very rural area we have never seen a single stray dog. What we do see is car after car with a dog or two, or three inside.... this is one dog loving state!

We found sweet Ella at the Dallas SPCA which, as of today, has 12 pages of adoptable dogs..... We once thought we would have to drive back to Dallas to get Ella a "sister," but we recently became aware of a shelter in Alabama with an amazing group of volunteers who drive vans of dogs from over-populated shelters in the South all the way to New Hampshire (and Maine) to find their forever homes! The Shelby Humane Society is a shelter who partners with humane societies across the country that are in need of animals to adopt. It's a win/win situation. I am so very awe-struck by the kind hearted individuals who take days out of their busy lives to drive these lucky, lucky dogs states away to find people who will love them. I think they are angels...

Jenifer Wallis & Jenny Miller are two of the angels that will embark on such a trip this Saturday, November 7th... Please click on their blog and read how these two adorable Alabama girls are going to rescue a van full of dogs and bring them to New Hampshire!

Please, please if you can- donate money to this very worthy cause, even $5 will add up and help these shelter dogs! (If you are another blogger please feel free to copy this post and spread the word!) There are three easy ways to donate on the site....

New Hampshire Bound

Stay tuned to their blog as they will also do posts along their journey!