I am sure I have said it a few thousand times on this blog, but I really, really loathe March in the Midwest. The snow takes forever to melt – IF it melts – and when it does, everything is a muddy freaking mess. I dread letting the dog outside because it means the inevitable muddly dog prints all over the kitchen when she comes prancing back in. Sometimes winter forgets that it’s supposed to leave quickly and quietly and instead hangs around like a drunk party guest, making messes in the form of winter storm after winter storm.
I feel like the den mother for a riotous frat party who, while cleaning up the chaos of the latest party, picks up a blanket to find a sleeping Old Man Winter. After a couple weeks of having above-average temperatures and quickly melting snow, we are now under a Winter Storm Watch for Monday.
<sigh> Whatevs. It goes with the territory of living here, I guess. I should know that once that glimmer of hope sparks that maybe — just maybe — I could get my pond up and going in record time that it awakens the Snow Giant. So we’ll hunker back in for the storm, look forward with dreary eyes for the Big Melt, and then repeat the process all over again.
The Midwest seems to be slowly recovering from the pandemic. Mask restrictions were relaxed a little bit in town, but I’ve found that now we are at that awkward do-I-or-don’t-I mask phase. My husband and I went to some antique stores yesterday and the sign warning was gone from the door of the first shop we went to. When we went in, the people at the desk said it is our choice to wear one or not as I was putting it on. I said OK, and then removed it a few minutes later because, truthfully, I am so tired of wearing masks all day long. The store was full of people and about 1/3 were not wearing masks. Those that did seemed to be judgmental as I walked by them, and it was a really odd feeling.
Anyway, I know better than to keep writing about this topic because eventually I’ll tick people off or someone will get offended, so let’s just move along, shall we?
As I said above, my husband and I really needed to get out of town after being stuck here for too many weekends, so we took off to our favorite antique stores in Spirit Lake, IA. There are four stores that we visit in pretty much the same order all the time. By now, I remember where I saw something cute from the last time we were there, and it’s turned into a game to see if those things are still there.
I did manage to nab some decent tablecloths for chump change, so I was happy. Here they are!
I have found that I am falling down a strange rabbit hole of collecting after I purchased this bowl a couple months ago:
As I was perusing the shelves this weekend, I happened to look under a stack of dishes to find a nice collection of restaurant ware by Buffalo China:
Although I much prefer the diner china from the middle of the century, I loved how solid and heavy these were. I would love to find more of the Bailey-Walker pieces.
I’ve been on the hunt for Pyrex ever since I happened to notice that Pyrex is worth more than gold these days, apparently. A starburst casserole dish that I bought years ago is now selling for around $500, and other pieces are in high demand, too. I decided to start watching for Pyrex pieces while antique shopping, and up to today, everything I have found has been priced way high. Imagine my surprise when I spotted a couple of divided casserole dishes hiding behind a school desk!
The last focus of my vintage adventures has to do with spice cans. I have a weird obsession with old spice cans. If they have the right colors and the right font, then I feel compelled to buy them if they are reasonably priced. Behold, my spices of life:
Anytime someone uses a star to dot an “I,” well, I’m probably going to buy whatever it is. Great vintage colors and fonts all around!
That’s it for now!
