In My (Egg) Cups

Finally! It's been possibly months since I've seen any Winkle stuff in the thrift shops hereabouts. That is, of course, not counting the Rushtone serving bowl that was at St. Vincent de Paul ("Vinnies") priced at... $21.00! So today was a nice surpirse and not where I expected it. I don't usually look at the shot glasses (I have a couple - how many do I need? But I was scanning nearby and caught these in the corner of my eye.

The stamps on the bottom are a bit mystifying. One says Made in England and the other two say Staffordshire England. The one with Made in England might be from a different batch because the transfer is much sharper than on the other two. I know they are Winkles because they match this plate from a gravy dish set. It's called "Autumn".

And I bought them because they fit my (loose) rule: new shape or new pattern.

Aren't they sweet. I'm having three soft-boiled eggs for breakfast tomorrow. With soldier boys. Yum!

Happy Winkle Story

The other day a woman that I've known slightly for a few years dropped by my house to pick up her daughter who was hanging out with my daughter. The girls used to dance together, so I know a few things about the mom just by dint of passing the time waiting for dance classes to end. So, for example, I know that this woman's parents died when she was quite young and she was raised by 7(?!) older brothers. She was old enough to remember her mom, but still quite young if I recall correctly. I only tell you this because it is important to the rest of the story.

So she came to pick up her daughter and stepped into my kitchen. Her eye was immediately drawn to my lovely new plate rack and it's three Kathie Winkle platters. She said, "I like your plates. They remind me of dishes that my mother had when I was young." I asked if her mother had one of those patterns and she said, "No, but similar to those." I proceeded to give my "mini" Kathie Winkle lecture, and then to illustrate reached into a cupboard to find a dish by which to illustrate the numerous lovely patterns available. As I pulled out the bowl and turned it towards her. She gasped. "That was my mother's pattern." I immediately offered it to her. She demurred that she wouldn't "break up the set". My daughter guffawed(!) and I patiently explained that, really, I have plenty and I would be really pleased if she would take it. I checked it for chips and cracks (remarkably, I have several pieces of Rushtone, the pattern I had grabbed, and wanted to give her a decent one) and insisted. She held it to her chest and said, "I don't have anything that belonged to my mother."

It really makes all that gathering worthwhile. She has since told me it holds a place of honour in her china cabinet. Sigh.

Let it snow, let it snow...

For those of you who are just starting summer, here is a shot from my kitchen window this morning. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."

I've "Bean" Negligent

I feel chastened. I really want to blog more regularly (nothing more exciting than to see my blog floated to the top of the list on Livinginthekingdomoftoomuch!) (I'm not sure how I managed to escape the cull, but thanks Library Girl. I pledge to do better....) In my defence I have to say, it's not easy to get on the computer (a 14 year old blogger, youtuber, etsy entrpreneur and two 11 year old minecrafters!) but even when I do sometimes I have nothing to say.

My life is fairly dull which I suppose could be a good thing. For example, my exciting post today is about my beans. I grew several types of runner beans this year. I can't remember any of the names. I mostly picked them up for free in the seed exchange at Seedy Sunday over the last couple of years and finally planted them beside the garage in my new garden.

(Unfortunately my 11 year olds are also budding movie maker so my pictures often go missing during footage download. So, no photo of the new garden in full growth but here's a link to the bare bones.)


Well, they are finally dried out and I hulled them all last weekend. Sadly, the black turtle beans and some little brown beans were a bit mouldy (I salvaged enough to replant next spring) but I did get some lovely spotted beans (no pic) that we at on Monday in a pasta fazool casserole that the kids loved. The beans were delish. (Yes. we ate them all in one sitting. The entire harvest came to one cup of dried beans!).

But then I also harvested these BEAUTIFUL red and white beans (name unknown). My daughter took this cute picture.

Those (young looking) hands are mine. I have about two cups of these so maybe two meals. I would love suggestions of simple bean recipes where you really get to taste the beans and the lovely beans don't get hidden by sauce.

Ok, looking (fruitlessly) for the picture of the garden, I came across these photos of the boys learning to sew. Mr. Li made a small bag and Mr. T made a pillow. Their seems were remarkably straight for their first try. I think they liked it. Maybe this winter they can try pyjama pants.

Mr. Li's hand-painted t-shirt.

Oh, and this is Mr. Li's technological advancement on the simple can and string phone. That's the other can in the left corner of the picture. It sorta worked.

Ciao for now.
c.

Me warm. Me happy.

Here's a few nice pictures of my latest acquisition. Check out the label first.

Can you read that in reverse? The small print says "Borg Fabrics Ltd. Elmira, Ontario.

Ok, the lining which is perfect...with a lovely spray leaf pattern..

And the whole shebang...

Nice big collar for windy days...

And the price tag (what you can't see here is the MARKDOWN price: $19.99)

Me warm. Me happy. 

Holy Winkle-Stack, Batman!

So, wandering through my local St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop today, I thought to myself, "There's never any Kathie Winkle here anymore. Someone else in town must be collecting it." Not two seconds later, I spied a pretty green bowl, my eyes focused, I thought, telltale Winkle signs, oh the shape, like those blue ones, quick check on the bottom, SCORE! And better yet, at the counter the nice lady looked at the stack and said, "Would $5 be ok ma'am?" and then she gave me 25% off because it's a special day. !.

The stack includes fruit nappies, cereal bowls, sandwich plates AND the 8" luncheon plate that I have only one of. These are all in a slightly different shape than usual called Riviera Shape (I have some blue ones like this called "San Tropez" - they have a curve at the outer edge of the plate and slight bumps around the circumference).

This lovely pattern is called "Electra". Aren't they beauties? I've never seen this before, online or in person.

While I'm here I thought I'd show off my new plate rack that I wanted to use to display my many Winkle platters in a spot I could also easily grab and use them. It's a rotating display... I have many more than three... eek.

Winking

Have been away - did you miss me? You didn't miss a thing -  I didn't have anything interesting to post. But today! Well, we were on holidays for a couple of weeks - a road trip through Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the trip I found my FIRST EVER piece of Kathie Winkle in the USA. It was in a little "vintage shop" - $12 for a gravy boat and plate in the Viscount pattern. Well, I already have lots of Viscount and didn't really need a gravy boat so I passed it up (my daughter was flabbergasted and thought I should buy it JUST FOR THE PRINCIPLE that it was the first piece ever in the USA). I held my ground.

Fast forward to the second last day of the trip, at the Value Village on PEI where I found yet another gravy boat but in a TOTALLY NEW PATTERN! Palma Nova. What do you think? The leaves look so delicate - sort of like they do when they've almost rotted through on the ground and just the veins are holding a transparent bit of cellulose together. Of course I bought it ($3.99!) and now will have to find some gravy so I can justify the space it takes up...

I'll try to think of something interesting to post soon. Summer holidays though so not much happening but coffee, a bit of weeding, reading, coffee, drinks with friends, laundry, coffee...