In Black and White

I think I started these about 2 months ago, and finally, finally got the finishing touches on. I phototransferred some sheep and a French grain sack onto muslin, I really like those tins. I am also quite fond of my mini red and white Cherry Farm collection, or is the blue my favorite? Well, let's see how many hours of listing it will take to get these in the store!

The Earliest Spring Ever

I am certainly enjoying my extra month of spring, can't believe all the leaves are out already and we haven't worn a coat in weeks. I've been doing lots of garden prims of course, with a million half finished projects still in the works...

And Now For Something Completely Different

Someone sent me an email with John Cleese's Alerts to Threats in Europe, which is one of those laugh out loud things--if I had the slightest idea how to paste it in here, I would, but will have to send you out to google it to read it. It brought me back the million years to high school, the first time they aired Monty Python on PBS back then. I remember I ran and got one of my sisters and told her she HAD to see this, it was the funniest show I'd ever seen. She got there just in time for a sketch about Sam Peckinpaw movies, where this beautiful Edwardian picnic turned into a bloodbath in the crazy Monty Python way of piano keys impaling people. My sister looked at me in horror, "HOW CAN YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?" Well, before the arms started coming off, they were singing the Spam song in the Spam cafe. Fortunately, she did give it another try later and found out what I was talking about. Do check out the John Cleese thing, not at all Peckinpawish, but the good laugh we can all use now.

Now, to completely change direction, I did a few different tins and some blue and whites that are very different from my usual. I also took the long drive to Cedar Falls for the UNIdome show this weekend. I didn't buy my usual hoarde, but what I got is choice, as they say!

I Hate Doing Taxes and I Love Gatherings

I have been buried in paperwork for a week, getting more irritated with every punch of the calculator that I have to do all this tax work, then pay an attorney to fill out the forms, just because the tax code has gotten so impossible, I don't even believe the attorney knows how to do it. Grrrrrr. Thank God for Gatherings, we went there Sunday for a break, what a lovely destressor. I found a wonderful old mustard paint youth chair and some lovely rolling pins in small sizes, just what I needed. We also stopped at Polly Anns, where she had saved out some tins for me to paint, I need to get busy garden theming those up.

Going crazy with the taxes, I was starting to despair of ever getting things done for ebay, when Anna and Grace came to the rescue and stuffed pillows for me and painted some tins and buckets too. They are thrilled with their paychecks and I am thrilled to not have sawdust in my hair from stuffing pillows!

It All Started with a Picture in Country Sampler and a Pitcher in Artifacts

I saw a picture in the last Country Sampler of a little antique rolling pin, all chippy white old paint, and was completely enamored. Of course, with antiques, never 2 the same, so Little Red Hen-like, I did it myself and painted some. The rolling pins were so exactly what I wanted, I now want to paint everything white. Next, we make a side trip to Artifacts, the eclectic and funky antique store downtown Iowa City. There, you can find everything from a 1980s mannequin sitting on an orange and lime green 1960s sofa to an 1890s dough bowl and early kitchenwares. You have to look in every corner--I once found a pair of high button baby shoes stuffed into a lampshade. Back to our story. I found a beautiful French enamel pitcher there, white with a pale blue graphic design for $60. I thought I could surely find one on ebay for less. Silly me, they cost SOOO much more! Someone more clever than I snatched it up before I got back there, but I got a bit obsessed with all the French enamel canister sets (also with gasping prices of about $400+ per set), all with gorgeous blue and white and red and white, which translated into my blue calico and gingham sleeves on everything. Trying to get the latest in the store tonight, I keep falling asleep before I finish!

My Iowa City Restaurant Reviews

There is a tea room called the Leaf Kitchen here in Iowa City that I drive by every day on my way to the post office, but never gone into until I read a glowing review in the paper, so we went this week. First, I am intrigued at the decor, 1960s tag sale furniture and dishes, the menu looks great, I can hardly choose, so many favorites, from curried chicken salad to quiche Lorraine to a chicken club, all made with fresh local ingredients. Unfortunately, this was all dashed by the very slow service, then the very disappointing meal. My curried chicken salad was edible, but I never would have guessed "fresh" as being the byword for this. My own curried chicken salad is SOOO much better, as is my quiche Lorraine, which is what Grace ordered. Anna got the chicken club, all announced that I am a much better cook, and I am certainly not ready for Top Chef. The only winning dish for us was the lentil soup, we all thought it was great, but I'm guessing Tom Colicchio would pronounce the lentils undercooked.

Also this week, we went to the Brown Bottle, been here in Iowa City for forever and the food snobs would not tell you to go there for dinner, but they would be wrong, the Brown Bottle makes the most delicious alfredo sauce and their creamy garlic salad dressing is amazing. I must also recommend the bread served with olive oil with a roasted garlic in it, which really could be a meal all by itself. We usually don't get it, just because we never have room for dinner after! I must make a note that my husband hates their food, but he also will put barbeque sauce on any food and once asked me when I was going to learn to make casserole topped with crumbled potato chips on the night I made chicken crepes for dinner.

Now, I have to take the girls to see the Lorax, because they love Taylor Swift almost as much as Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland, but I will be back to list my fingers to the bone, here are the photos of the little robins egg collection (big robins egg collection to follow.) My blue and white dream antiques are in the top photos.

Some Brights to Mix in with the Drabs

I think I'll get all the earlies and naturals in the shop today, then lots of bright spring prims on Sunday. Here is a sneak peek of yellow and robins eggs, LOTS more to come in cornflower blue and robins egg--bread boards, butter molds, rolling pins, mashers and I'm even white washing some round tin graters, the antique purists are going to have to have the paramedics on speed dial!