Porcelain Kitty with a Mystery

 

A few months back my friend Susan and I attended an Estate sale.  It was a great one and I found more things than I should have.  I actually went back on the last day of the three day sale when prices had been cut in half. There were still many items left that were worthy of bringing home.

 

Since  I have a black and white kitty who is so dear to my heart, it seemed I should take this little porcelain piece home with me.

Don’t we all flip things over to see what markings we might recognize?  This name didn’t mean much to me but I did like the fact that it was from Germany.  The owner of the home had great taste and I felt sure this was a found treasure.

 

Here’s what I found on an antique collectibles sight:

The Erphila trademark was used by Ebeling & Ruess Co. of Philadelphia between 1886 and the 1950s. The company imported quality porcelain and pottery from Germany, Czechoslovakia, Italy and France. In general, Erphila pieces are scarce, not easily found.

 

I do think Maggie and Estate sale kitty could be related!  You don’t know how many times I have walked by my dresser thinking Maggie was sitting there when it’s really just the estate sale kitty.

 

Okay now for the mystery.  Here’s where one of you might come in  to help.  This little thing has a cork plug in the bottom and appears to be filled with sand.  Why is that?  I can’t find anything online when I search for information about Erphila pieces that indicates anything about the cork or the sand.

 

I mentioned it to my daughter Jamie one day and she said maybe it was really an urn…an urn the original owner had used to store the ashes of her beloved cat!!!  YIKES!  I never thought of that!!  Could it be? 

 

For some reason, I don’t think so.  It is quite heavy.  Do any of you have any knowledge of this?  I’d love to hear if you do.

 

I’m joining Marty’s blog ~~ A Stroll Thru Life  and Tabletop Tuesday  with a little vignette today. 

I hope you have lots of good things planned for your week.  I am looking at upcoming Estate sales looking for a secretary for my living room!

 

Donna

I love my house ~~~BUT ~~~

 

 

Out of approximately the nine homes we have owned (moving around a lot with the military) I have found our new home to be probably the most challenging to decorate.  I miss walls to nestle furniture around, and a place to hang more pictures. (sorry the pictures aren’t better.  I tried at night…too dark.  I tried in the day…too bright with the snow!) Just try to pretend they are better.

With ten foot ceilings and an open floor plan I feel it is harder to create an intimate setting in my living room.  Look at the picture above and below and you will notice I have moved the tree around.  I had a nice wooden fern stand in the one corner that sold and now I have an area just begging to be covered!  If I see an empty space, my husband always says I feel the need to put something there…. And he is right!  Never have I been one of those people to say “Less is more”.  This house is also lacking bookshelves.  I have my eye out for a nice 7-8 ft. piece of furniture that can hold books as well as pretties.  A great secretary would be perfect.

 

It would go in this area next to the fireplace.

 

Here you can get a better idea of the floor plan.  This picture was taken in the entry and shows how the living room is across from the dining room.

 

That empty corner just haunts me!

 

 

 

This photo shows the dining room and entry.  Don’t mind Maggie who insisted she would continue her bath even with people looking. :) 

 

Just so you don’t think I am going overboard on the trees, the one in the dining room corner is for sale.  They are just too big to store once I have them potted for my business, so they normally just find a corner in my home waiting for a customer to claim it.  My friends are used to seeing trees and arrangements with price tags dangling.  LOL!

Occasionally I wish I hadn’t gone the “safe” route with furniture and window treatments.  Here is a closeup of the living room draperies.  I really do love them with the beaded trim.  There is a pretty stitching in the fabric, but you do have to look for it from a distance.

 

After evaluating the overall look of the room I recently noticed what I am missing ~~~ PATTERN.

 Some big checked pillows or something to liven up the room is definitely what I can see is lacking.  That should be pretty easy to solve.  I have had the urge for awhile now to get my old sewing machine oiled up and try my hand at sewing once again.

If you have an idea for improvement don’t hesitate to suggest it!

 

A winter coffee table with red velvet flowers and log looking candles should work a few more weeks.  By then I will definitely be interested in something a little more springy.

 

 

Really, I’m not complaining, but do you see another area that’s hard to decorate? 

 

I have a three sided fireplace mantle!  You can see two sides in this picture.  It wraps on around to the hearth room.  While building the house, I was excited at the possibilities.  In reality, it is tricky!  What you place up there has to look good from several angles.

 

 

 

 

While I was snapping away with my camera I happened to look out the window.  Thinking I might  see a deer rooting around for food in the woods, I saw a male cardinal at the feeder instead.  Look at all the black feathers on his lower back.  That seems odd to me. 

Today ( a little late) I am joining Marty at A Stroll Thru Life with  the 50th Tabletop Tuesday.  There are always great ideas just waiting to find at Marty’s.

 

Is it snowing in your neck of the woods?  The weatherman tells of just how far the snow is reaching so there is a pretty good chance.

 

Stay snug and warm…

 

Donna

Cookbooks and Casual Dining

 

As I become  more and more addicted to thrift shops my eye turns to so many items that people give up.

 

My eye is always looking for white dishes to add to my growing collection.  What FUN it is to come across really pretty pieces for such a little amount of money.  Along with my lifelong love for dishes  ~~  cookbooks seem to come in at a close second.  Do you ever look in the book section at your favorite thrifting places?  Garage sales are really, really good for this sort of find too.

  I know, I know…you are saying, “why purchase cookbooks when every recipe we want is on the computer?”  Yes, I often search the computer for recipes, but I also climb into my cozy bed each night, often with a cookbook and reading glasses.  I’m one of those people who reads cookbooks.

I love a good bargain on Junior Women’s League cookbooks!  These excellent books from so many towns can be found for a couple of dollars.   New, they would sell for from between $20 and $30.

While we are in the kitchen, go ahead and pull up a bar stool.  Mr. Brown Socks and I enjoy many casual meals here in the kitchen as we are Empty Nesters.  Our grandsons often sit up here too.

Today I have set up a tablescape of sorts at the bar.  My dish of the week is by Hartstone.  I have twelve of the red check dinner plates.  This was a line my friend and I sold when we had a little store in our town.

 

My collection includes a variety of salad plates

 

The deep red glasses came from a grocery store when we lived in Enid, Oklahoma back in the early 80’s.  I still love them.

Oh, did I tell you what I served for dinner?

No?

 

We had hamburgers and bagged salad… No cookbook needed   :-}

 

Let’s go over now to visit Susan and see what’s happening at Between Naps on the Porch.

 

Really?  I didn’t tell you our menu??? 

 

Thanks for your visit,   

Donna

 

Fabulous Bread Pudding with some Dishes thrown in for Fun

 

 

Entertaining in January comes with challenges.  Unless you decorate with snowmen (which I really don’t so much anymore) there really isn’t a color scheme to work with or napkins that seem to fit the season.  (I know ~~~ there are certainly BIGGER problems in this world of ours!)

 

I recently hosted a small group Bible Study in my home.  After our study we serve a dessert and we also have a variety of teas, coffees, and any other beverage a person might think about….again…it depends on the season.

 

Pulling out my Red Transferware dishes seemed to be appropriate as we near February.

I plan to prepare a Tablescape with these, some of my most favorite dishes one of these days soon.

Okay, dishes decided upon ~~~ CHECK~~~  Now on to deciding what to serve for dessert!  Yikes!  We have some good cooks in this group and we take our desserts seriously! LOL!

 

I asked another group of friends if they had a favorite recipe and Jennifer came up with this idea:

Emeril’s White Chocolate and Blueberry Pudding with Amaretto Cream Sauce

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons, melted
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 cups 1/2-inch cubes day-old bread
• 6 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries

Amaretto Cream Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup Amaretto liqueur
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

Directions

For the Bread Pudding: Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Butter a 10 by 14-inch baking dish with the softened butter. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the cream, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Add the bread, chocolate, blueberries, and dried blueberries and stir well, then mix in the melted butter. Let sit for 30 minutes so the bread will absorb the egg mixture.

Pour into the prepared dish. Bake until firm when pressed in the center, about 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack until just warm, about 20 minutes.

For the Amaretto Cream Sauce: In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the Amaretto and whisk until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, scald cream over medium heat. Add the Amaretto slurry to the hot cream and whisking constantly, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook, whisking for 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and add the sugar. Whisk until dissolved. Let cool to room temperature before serving with the bread pudding.

Serves 8-10

 

Oh My Goodness!! Is this ever delicious!!!  I highly recommend you try this if you like bread pudding.  I did substitute some half and half for part of the heavy whipping cream.  I also think you could use almond extract in place of the Amaretto if you so choose.  I did not use any dried blueberries, only the one cup of fresh. My group of friends truly loved it and they all asked for the recipe.

 

Fitting right in with our Bible Study ~~ This was a bit of Heaven on Earth!

I’m joining Michael and many other bloggers who are sharing recipes today.  Go on over and take a look at Foodie Friday.

 

We are studying “Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World” by Joanna Weaver. The first lesson was very good.  Have you read this book or been involved with the Study?

Donna

Flowers that will last forever

 

 

Sadly we will be traveling soon for a funeral.  My husband’s 56 yr. old cousin passed away of lung cancer and he never smoked a day in his life.

 

His mother (Mr. Brown Socks’ Aunt) is still alive at age 91.  She is just the sweetest lady and still has a big flower garden and grows Indian corn, bird house gourds and a few veggies.  My sisters in law asked if I would make a permanent floral arrangement that she could have and keep in memory of her dear son, Kevin.

 

 

Not sure why I thought she might like purple and green, but it just seemed a peaceful color combination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture above shows a close up of the little furry pods I placed on the end.  I’ve mentioned before when I talk about flower arranging that it is always nice to have lots of texture and movement in the piece.

 

I hope she will like this keepsake.  It was fun putting it together for her while thinking of fond memories of Kevin.

I hope your day is going well.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

Donna