Tuesday Dose of Cute: Going Vintage Green Again

The newest addition to my well loved and well used vintage quilt collection

Back when I lived in northern California, I spent a number of years as, among other things, a part time antiques and collectibles dealer. I love all kinds of vintage stuff, and the business was a fun way to fund my own slightly-out-of-control collecting habit.

These days I'm mostly on the buying end of things, but no matter which side of the business you're on, there's one important rule to always keep in mind: If you love it, you'd better snatch it up right now, because otherwise it'll probably disappear.

More photos and the rest of the story below. . .

Monday Farm Photos: The Case of the Bizarre Vintage Blanket

Wrapped up in a cozy mystery.

Any blanket experts out there?

Saturday Farm Photos: These Blustery, Mustery Days

Are Perfect for Blow Drying

Before I got into vintage quilts, I collected old Beacon style blankets, and for years I kept them safely tucked away in storage boxes. Not anymore. Life's too short to keep the stuff you love the most packed away where you can't enjoy it, especially when it's something as useful as a blanket.

Wednesday Farm Photos: Vintage Quilt Love (Again)

We haven't been out cutting firewood yet this fall (we've been busy catching up with other stuff, like cutting 310 more bales of hay), but there's no chance we're going to freeze. I have an ever growing stack of cozy vintage quilts to keep us warm.

Monday Farm Photos: A Peek Inside My Potting Cabinet

A gardening girl can never have too many pots at the ready, right?











Every time I look inside this cabinet I smile.

I Love Old Stuff!
1/3/09: Feeding My Addictions (and Pasta w/ Olive Oil, Garlic, & Parsley)
4/22/09: Every Day Is Earth Day—and I'm Eco-Chic (Who Knew?)
6/22/09: Vintage Laundry Line
7/26/09: Going Vintage Green
8/2/09: A Beacon in the Light

© FarmgirlFare.com, the stuffed to the gills and ready for bed foodie farm blog where the first BLTs of the season (made with bacon saved specifically for this momentous occasion from the hog we had butchered last year, and served on freshly baked Farmhouse White of course) combined with freshly picked sweet corn purchased today from our Amish vegetable connection and a much needed (and wonderfully cooling!) late afternoon rainstorm all add up to one very nice summer day indeed.

Sunday Farm Photos: A Beacon in the Light

I love Beacon style blankets (this is another recent vintage buying spree find.)



And I Live in Overalls

Ahh, the sweet smelling luxury of a laundry line:
12/1/05: Warm Wash, Cool Dry
1/2/06: Winter Color
4/17/06: Monday Washday (and a Lamb Report)
1/12/08: Winter Wash and Dry (and the R-rated Version)
5/6/09: The Lamb and the Laundry Line (a look back at Baby Cary)
6/22/09: Vintage Laundry Line

Do you hang your laundry on a line?

© 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the well washed foodie farm blog where while many people are already bemoaning the fact that summer (in all its hot and sweaty glory) will soon be over, we're happily counting down the days until we can bury the bed with blankets and quilts and prance around in polar fleece (which is one of the greatest inventions ever).

Sunday Farm Photo: Going Vintage Green

Form and function—a few of my new favorite old things

Before I moved from California to Missouri in 1994, I was, among other things, a part time antiques and collectibles dealer. This side business began—as it so often does—as a way to fund my own slightly-out-of-control collecting habit. I specialized in selling things from the 1920s through the 1950s because that's what I bought for myself.

For years I spent countless hours (and countless dollars) prowling around flea markets, yard sales, junk stores, and antiques collectives in search of cool and saleable stuff.

These days I'm more into hunting for heart rocks and bird nests than Bauer Pottery and bakelite jewelry (though I do still cherish my prized collection of it), but I've recently gone on a couple of local buying binges (thanks for the birthday money, mom!).

Except for a few really nice pieces of 'Made in Japan' pottery that fit perfectly with the ones I already own, I've mostly been bringing home things that not only make me happy when I see them but can also be put to good use—like a beautiful antique garden shovel and those two vintage quilts that now adorn the bed.

I've always been partial to kitchenware—everything from homemade aprons (I have a couple dozen and used to wear a different one to work each day when I had my little bakery), printed tablecloths, and bakelite handled gadgets to Pyrex refrigerator dishes, formica dinette sets and early waffle irons. Yet for some reason I never found myself drawn to old rolling pins or enamelware. This was probably a good thing. I am loving this gorgeous shade of what I call forties green—and that red stripe. I fear my collecting bug may be back.

I've also recently discovered the wonderful world of design & decorating blogs (where have I been?), many of which feature vintage finds. Decor8 is fabulous, though slightly dangerous (as in, Um, where did the last two hours just go?). I've been totally inspired to declutter The Shack, better display and make use of my treasures, and share more of them with you.

So what do you like to collect? Any favorite vintage/decorating sites?

© FarmgirlFare.com, the timeworn foodie farm blog where we love the fact that not only are old things often better made and better priced than their brand new counterparts (I paid $16 total for all three items in this photo), but buying something used is the ultimate form of reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Monday Farm Photos: Vintage Laundry Line

I love my new old quilts (this one is hand stitched).

More photos below. . .

Saturday Farm Photo: An Early Christmas Gift

Another addition to my beloved bird nest collection!

Want to see (and read about) a few more of my nests?
9/1/05: Don't Build Your Nest Deep Inside the Hay Baler
1/29/06: The Latest Addition to My Collection
8/4/06: A Warm & Wooly Nest
8/14/06: Another New Bird Nest
1/9/07: Bird Nests Are Like Snowflakes

© FarmgirlFare.com, the empty nest foodie farm blog where I'm thrilled to have found three new nests (all unable to be reused by birds again) in the last five days, including one that literally flew onto me as I pulled a bale of hay down from the open-sided barn—and the one pictured here appears to have some dog or donkey hairs carefully woven into it. My most prized bird nest contains a strand of my long hair.

Farm Photo 2/14/08: Happy Valentine's Day

Hearts To You

Want more love?
Farm Photo 2/14/06: Happy Valentine's Day To You
February 14th, 5:00pm: Looking For Love
Pictures of my heart rock collection
Other hearts found around the farm

© 2008 FarmgirlFare.com, the award-winning blog where life on 240 remote Missouri acres is crazy but we love it.

Farm Photo: 1/9/07

The Latest Addition To My Collection

Bird nests are like snowflakes--no two are ever the same, and each one is an exquisite work of art. For many years I collected things that the graphic designer in me found aesthetically pleasing, things that made me feel good just looking at them--bakelite radios from the 1930s, plastic handbags from the 40s and 50s, Art Deco anything. Things I bought. I love my bird nests as much as any of my other collections (which are, sadly, mostly packed away in boxes) and can easily get lost in their intricacy. But what makes them that much sweeter is the fact that every single one of them was free.

Click here and here if you'd like to see two other nests and read a little more about my collection.

A year of Daily Photos ago: Local Architecture
And: Poking Around

Welcome New Visitors!
Click here for a brief introduction to this site.

Daily Farm Photo: 8/14/06

And Another New Bird Nest Is Added To My Collection

I found this one laying on the ground near the giant cedar tree in front of the house. It was probably knocked down during one of the back to back storms in July (since we haven't had any storms--or even any rainfall to speak of--since then). It just took me a while to find it. It's one of the smaller types, less than three inches across and similar to several I already have. But as I mentioned before, each bird nest is a unique work of art.

I saw two little puffs of wool lining the inside right away, but a closer inspection revealed several delicate hairs along the inside as well. I pulled one out, and although it resembled human hair, it definitely wasn't mine or Joe's. (I do have one bird nest that has a piece of my long hair woven throughout it--what a magical find that was.) And then I realized it was half white and half dark. Nobody I know has hair like that. Except maybe. . .A quick tummy rub, and the mystery was solved--they were Lucky Buddy Bear belly hairs! There is certainly no shortage of nesting material on this farm. Click here if you'd like to see another recently found nest and read a little bit about my collection.

A year of Daily Photos ago:
Morning Glories Are Taking Over The Garden

Daily Farm Photo: 8/4/06

The Latest Addition to My Collection

For several years, when I lived quite another life in northern California, I bought and sold and amassed collections of all manner of 1920s-1950s stuff. (The selling was a direct result of too much amassing.) I no doubt trekked dozens of miles at antique malls and outdoor flea markets, searching for everything from colorful pottery and catalin jewelry to lucite purses and Art Deco chrome.

Now I collect rocks and bird nests. (Though I still have many of my earlier finds. Most are safely tucked away in boxes, but certain items have escaped confinement and are haphazardly scattered around the The Shack. There are, for instance, five 1930s bakelite radios staring down at me from a shelf above my computer. Below the shelf, four fluffy kittens from the same era are forever cavorting around a fishbowl in a small, rectangular print. A brightly flowered curtain from the 1940s covers an unused door in my office.)

But I digress. Anyway, yesterday I put the sheep in a large Donkey Daycare Grazing Pen for a while. There are two enormous sycamore trees in this pen, and below them are piles of large branches that broke off during the recent storms. During their midday rest period, the sheep happily nestled in the shade amongst the debris. While I was carefully picking my way through it to check on everyone, I found this glorious nest laying on the ground--no doubt knocked out of the sky along with all of the branches.

I probably have at least two dozen bird nests by now. Most of them are startingly different from one another, but even the ones that were obviously crafted by the same species of bird are each unique creations. I don't think there will ever be a time when I am not in awe of a bird nest. I become mesmerized and find myself staring at them, trying to figure out how in the world I could even come close to constructing something so precise and perfect using nothing but my mouth.

Most of my bird nests are between three and four inches wide, but this new one measures six inches across. It is somewhat similar in size and shape to this nest I found last year. While I have yet to find the time to research what types of birds built each of my nests, I know exactly what kind of bird built this one--a very smart one! This has got to be the warmest, woolliest bird nest in the world. Click here if you would like to see the underside and a close-up of the construction detail.

I think this is a good time to mention that I only collect bird nests that are obviously no longer being used. Most of them are found on the ground. I do have a couple of nests that still contained teeny tiny, unbroken eggs when I discovered them, but even these had obviously been abandoned. Someday I will get around to photographing more of my collection (and some other day we will build a proper case in which to display them all). Each of these nests is truly a work of art. And as you can see, I easily get carried away talking about them.


A year of Daily Photos ago:
Surprise Lilies Are Also Known As Naked Ladies

Looking back each day at the photo I posted a year ago has been very interesting. I don't look ahead, preferring the daily surprise instead. This means (as you may have noticed) that sometimes I find myself posting new photos that are amazingly similar to ones I posted right around the same time last year. The surprise lilies are a case in point.

But rather than feeling embarrassed by these inadvertent repetitions, I am taking comfort in the fact that although it often feels as if everything is always changing, there are some things around the farm that do remain the same year after year. And fortunately many of them are things of quiet beauty (or cuteness).

© FarmgirlFare.com

Daily Farm Photo: 1/29/06

The Latest Addition To My Collection

Daily Farm Photo 10/16/05: It's A Hard Rock Life For Us

Part Of My 'Good Rocks' Pile (Yes, I Collect Rocks)

I have found plenty of nice ones, but this is the rock I have been drooling over for five long years. I pass it every day on my walk through the woods, and I always pause for a split second to imagine it down on the farm. Too bad it probably weighs two thousand pounds and is located on the ridge road 400 feet above us. But a girl can dream, can't she? Maybe someday I'll figure out how to get it down here. Until then, at least I don't have to be too worried about anyone stealing it out from under me.