BlueDogAntiques

Hauling Brush, or Why We're Not Getting More Done On The House!

2012-01-21T19:55:00.000-05:00

Several people have asked me lately why I'm not showing more progress on the house. So I am showing you why. In the picture above you see the before. Look at all the broken off branches, the result of the October storm.

Here is the area right below those trees, broken wood all over the place. You can see where we have cut the branches off the firewood tree parts.

Above are two views of our road frontage, where we have hauled the brush for (hopefully!) the city to pick up. This is just the brush from the approximately 1 acre meadow next to the barn. Think of what remains to do on the other 7 acres. Yes, I am using this meadow now for an agility field for my fabulous Aussie Freckles, seen above. She is wondering why I am standing in the middle of the road, not playing with her.

Above you can see Cy pulling down a "hanger", a broken off tree top of limb. Some of these are quite large, and called " widow makers". Hum, maybe having Cy do this work is not such a great idea.

Here's the mess in the back of the meadow, fallen wood everywhere. We use the lawn tractor to haul the heavier branches up to the road.

You can see what a long fun process it is just to clear up. More work waits when we get to cut and split all the firewood. At least we won't be cold next winter!

October Snow Storm!

2011-11-03T18:44:00.000-04:00

Here's what my house looked like the morning after the big storm.

Here's our road.

Here's the meadow and outhouse to the north.

Here's our beloved heritage apple tree, which covered our deck in flowers in May. R.I.P.

Look at the motorhome! We don't think there is any damage, but will need to wait for the snow to melt to do a good examination of the roof.

Its such a mess in CT. There are trees and limbs down everywhere. I don't think we have 1 tree without damage. Especially the oaks, they still had their leaves so they are all damaged. We will have a years work to clean it up. No power, they are saying maybe 2 more weeks! No internet or cable. We have a good wood stove, so we're toasty here, but no water. There's no power in town, so you spend a lot of time driving around looking for a gas station that has power and has gas, then you can wait in line. The PO is open, but no power for the scales so you can ship. Costco was sort of open, the whole store running on a giant generator, if you can believe it. The city plowed the snow, and came and is cutting and pulling the downed limbs that are in the road. There is a shelter for heat and showers at the Middle School. So we'll get along, but boy it is an eye opener. Who knew how vulnerable our society is.

House Progress "The New Room" Part 2

2011-08-27T17:51:00.002-04:00

OK, OK I admit progress has been slow. Traveling, making a living, all conflict with working on the old house. However, things are moving along. Here are some pics from last March. This is the SW corner of the room with the floors insulated and down, and the washer and dryer and well pump installed.

Here is the same corner today. We've begun to enclose the appliances with some great 18th feather edge paneling we found. Too short to use on a wall, its great for this project. The only hold up now is to find pintles that will fit these great turnip ended old hinges. Did I ever show you the wonderful old 18th C windows we put in? Aren't they fine? OK the white paint has to go. I wish you could see all the bubbles in the glass, we've been saving this glass for a long time for something just like this.

Here is the SE corner of the room, with Cy's new TV. We stabilized the wall behind the TV with some left over wood so we could wall mount. This too will be enclosed with the paneling.

Here is the NE corner, still in March, sheet rock and insulation and wiring done, ready for some mud.

This is in April. We hired the foam guys to come in and spray closed cell insulation on the ceiling, so we could be warm and still see our old beams. Here they are covering the beams to protect from the foam.

How's this for a great picture? The guy is in process of spraying foam. Man, I'm getting out of here, its really smelly!

Almost done!

Starting the clean up. They are using wire brushes and claw hammers to release the duct tape covering the beams which protected them from the spray.

Looking cozy? Should be a nice warm winter this year.

Fast forward to August. Since the foam must be covered by fire code, we choose to hand plaster it, rather than put up sheetrock. There was really no way to fasten the sheetrock without hiding the beams. So we spent a long painful summer working on our ceiling. Because the foam left hills and valleys, and is not by nature smooth, I used a teeny tiny trowel to put up the plaster, working along with the grain of the foam and going in between the beams. Here you see Cy putting the final touches on the long sanding process, all hand work, no sanding blocks would work here.

And of course what do you have to do after you sand a lot of plaster? Vacuum it up of course. I am now deliriously happy, because the next step is putting up lots of masking tape and buying paint. Yeah!

Onsite Auction in Rhode Island

2011-08-03T12:19:00.000-04:00

Oh, what fun we had. This is my favorite type of auction, which sadly does not happen much anymore, at least out here in New England.

This particular auction was at a 1691 house, see above, named the Josiah Crane house, a lovely gambrel roof house with beautiful property. I love the fenced in flower garden in front.

This is the giant tent they set up in front of the barn. They started the auction here with the nice smalls and better furniture, like the highboy. After the exciting bidding on the more expensive things, they started a "walk around" to auction off the stuff that was arranged around the outside of the barn, iron charcoal making implements, odd chairs, drying racks, all kinds of obscure farming bits.

Apparently they found a lot of great old stuff up in the barn, and in the outbuildings. This wonderful old wagon was in parts up in the barn. It sold, of course.

After the barn stuff we all walked around to the outbuildings. Here is the Colonial era schoolhouse, with all kinds of wicker piled outside.

Sadly, here is the inside of the school house. There was an antique loom piled in the corner to the left, which I of course bought and hauled out, with risk to life and limb. Well, actually the nice son of the owner hauled it out for me. All we had to do was try and fit it all in the van, unload it, spread it out on the driveway and get out the bug spray. The powder post beetles that had destroyed the back wall had made a start on the loom, or at least I was worried they might have.

Every old farm needs an outhouse! The nice Coke machine in front sold of course

Here's something I've never seen in New England before, a corn crib.

If you look underneath, you can see rough granite pillars that hold up the crib, for air circulation, or so I was told by local people. And the holes in the side are for the same reason.

Here is the old stone blacksmith shop. All the old iron and plows and stuff inside were sold.

What a great day we had. And if you're looking for a property in New England, and maybe Rhode Island would work, here is the realtor's info, Andy Schilke 401-793-6399. The property includes all the beautiful buildings I've shown, as well as 40 acres and is on the Beaver River.

Heritage Log Cabin

2011-06-30T21:51:00.000-04:00

What a great looking log cabin! This is the Rider homestead, moved adjacent to the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT. Two stories, dormers and an ell, built in the 1870's if I remember, and full of great stuff. We went to the Museum because of its reputation for dinosaur bones, which were great, but we were really enchanted with the homestead outside.

Look at this wonderful early kitchen. We missed them making dinner on the old iron stove, but the kids got to help iron with the cast iron irons.

Doing up the dishes from dinner. Love the drysink!

Upstairs they had a room full of prairie dress up clothes. Here's my beautiful grandaughter Nikita, the perfect prim Victorian girl.

Love the sapling pea fence in the garden.

Spring garden is coming along well, for such a late spring.

Tomato poles ready to go in.

Out back was the cabin the settlers originally used. Look at the sod roof!

Here is the inside set up for a working blacksmith.

Here is the upper level of the cabin where the diaries show the daughters slept. Don't hit your head!

Out back was a teepee set up you could walk in.

And to top it all off, a video the kids and friends playing with Victorian toys. I've never actually seen this done, have you?

What a nice day in the summer in Montana.

Buffalo Bill Cody Museum Visit

2011-06-29T23:02:00.002-04:00

The first museum is all about the life and times of Buffalo Bill Cody. Look at this great early poster. Those old shows must have been something else!

Look at this huge saddle he actually used, and all the solid silver. That horse must have been a powerhouse.

A stagecoach from one of the shows.

This embroidered deerskin shirt was from the special exhibition about the evolution of western wear. The embroidery was so tiny, Native American, it was just unbelievable.

Woman's elk tooth dress. Ivory elk canine teeth would survive when the body and bones of the elk withered away, so they were a symbol of long life, just right for a young woman entering her childbearing years.

Modern western wear.

These modern boots were tooled and painted to honor this museum.

Here's the opening to the Cody Firearms Museum. Look at that great display of guns. They have 1500 guns beautifully displayed on the first floor, and another 1200 downstairs to study. Yikes.

I liked this exhibit. It was the inside of a NE gunsmith's shop from 1770.

Here is a pistol from Simeon North, 1808, Middleton CT.

Look at this great storefront and interior.

Here's a piece of the Plains Indian exhibit. So great.

I thought you'd like this, Lakota Sioux 1890.

From a collection of headdresses, Shoshonne plains, 1890.

On our way out we had to stop for a little lesson in roping.

But have to get moving, big shootout in Cody tonight, 6 p.m. and after that the rodeo. Big doings tonight!

If you'd like to see more pics of our trip, go to our website traveloque page, where I've posted quite a few,
http://www.bluedogantiques.com/Travelogue.html

Heartland Antiques show, or how to set up your booth.

2011-06-10T18:55:00.000-04:00

I often wonder if our customers know how we go about setting up a booth at an antiques show. So while we were getting ready to set up our booth at the famous Heartland Antiques Show in Richmond IN I took a bunch of pictures. Sort of a before and after.

So here is my space. Looks kind of scary, no? I have the back of those walls and 8' forward, so an 8' x 20' space. OK its 8 a.m and lets get going. First we check in, make sure we have the right space, get our badges, and pay any amount still due. Yes, we do have to pay to be here. Then we have to find the closest place to back in the van, so we don't have to carry all this heavy stuff too far.

Now it's about 45 minutes along. See all that heavy stuff Cy carried in? I of course was doing my assignment, shopping! No, really I helped carry. You can see we have all those orange boxes of smalls, and our folding tables set up and Cy is setting up our walls. Time for a big drink of water, a little sit down, and oh, yeah maybe I'll walk around a little and look and see who's here.

We're not the only ones working here. All the dealers are getting sweaty moving heavy things. Typically they do not have the air on while all the doors are open.

Here its 10 a.m. and we have the wall covers on, the props all set up. I have such a large space I rented an extra table and put my favorite table cover on, army blankets.Maybe a cup of coffee?

Here's a view under the table covers. Guess who? Freckles and Lucy! This is one of the nice shows that let me keep the babies under the tables. Considering the heat, its a blessing.

Here is Steve and Rita Carnine. Looks like they are almost done.Yeah!

Here's Carolyn Thompson and friend Sharon Matson. They are done too. Well, I guess I'll stop walking around and get finished up.

Well, finally done. Looks good no? I unpacked all the smalls, and then hung all the wall stuff on the walls. Then I arranged the smalls on the tables. Then I looked around and found a bunch of stuff that was not priced, so I had to look up the prices and price them. Then put out the sales book and pens, and the measuring tape and the bags and tissue, all ready for that first sale.

Here's the textile and old book nook. I wish you could see the beautiful silk embroidery on the wall better.

Here's the right side of the booth from the aisle, with our last hornbeam. In the background are the hands of tobacco, the leather bags and that barn lantern hanging from an iron chain. Almost done, had a few rearranges due to sales, but hey I'm not complaining. Good luck tomorrow we all say to each other. Now I'm off to look for that barbecue place that looked good last night.
After a full day of waiting on customers tomorrow, we get to do this all over again, but in reverse. Unhang the walls, pack all the smalls back in the orange boxes, take off the wall covers and take down the walls, fold the table covers,and fold up the tables. Then carry all the heavy stuff back out to the car and try and make it all fit back in.

I think we've got everything packed in the car. Almost, but not quite. Look who's patiently waiting! OK babies, come on lets go home! I'm beat.

May Brimfield, or how to have fun while shopping for antiques!

2011-05-21T21:02:00.001-04:00

When in Brimfield you have to have fun. Look at this cool display on hiway 20. Can you see the surfboards in the back of the old car?

And to have fun you have to look around and enjoy the ambiance. Here is a dashing dealer at the Textile Show.

People always seem to know where the best food is. Here is the best darn BBQ in New England. Look at the line at noon.

And if you're going shopping, better be looking good too! Here's a gal shopping at the fashion tents at the back of our field, New England Motel.

Here's another good looking booth in the same area.

Here's a piece of my booth near the front of the New England motel.

Here's my neighbor across the way, Stephanie Chiappa, up from PA.

Here's her neighbor, friend Rick Fuller. And look what is behind Rick's booth!

Chickens! Karen and Edd gave Rick two chickens and a rooster to take home to Vermont. The rooster was crowing away all week!

Here's Karen and Edd's booth across. the way.

Here's a hello from Gary Wirth of Gary and Sue Wirth's antiques.

Up the row, who else but Sasha's antiques?

Here's Cyril waving from his booth around the corner.

Last but not least John Melby's nice booth. Don't we have a nice looking group of dealers in our area?

And while we're on the subject, just look at this stuffed sheep in the booth of my friend Derek Poole. Remember my sheep fair blog last month, well here is a stuffed model ready to do his thing!

But at Brimfield you are not limited to country antiques. You can shop for your garden,

you can buy a pig,

modern art,

or tacky Chinese imports. But that's Brimfield. From the sublime to the ridiculous, it's all there. I guess my point is that while yes, we spend most of our time pounding the fields searching for the ultimate treasure, and the rest of the time dragging said treasure back to our truck, not to mention worrying about our bank balance, looking frantically for the umbrella we're sure we brought, standing in line at the one tiny indoor bathroom, trying to remember where we bought something, inching through traffic, slapping on the sunblock and rubbing our sore feet, there is more to see and do. Lift up your weary head and look around, its pretty comic out there. Come and see for yourself sometime. Oh, and don't forget to ask me where the Methodist pie ladies set up!

CT Sheep Fair

2011-05-03T20:54:00.000-04:00

Hey, you want to have a good sheepy kind of fun, come to the CT Sheep Fair in Tolland, CT next year.

You can see a mama sheep and her lambs.

You can see really amazing sheep dogs and their owner herding sheep from giant open fields into tiny little pens.

OK, this is me being silly.

You can see alpacas, and bunnies, really any animal you can spin and weave from.

You can listen to live music.

You can buy all kinds of stuff. I got some alpaca socks, light and warm.
You can also eat all kinds of lamb and other food.

And here you can watch a sheep getting sheared. He's kind of cute, huh?

Anyhow, we had a good time, maybe we'll see you there next year.

Guilford Antiques Show

2011-03-03T19:15:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the spring Guilford Antiques Show down by the coast in scenic Guildford, CT. Cy and I had a good time looking around and visiting with old friends. Everyone was in a good mood due to large crowds. I guess everyone was tired of the snow and wanted to get out the house and look at beautiful antiques. Here is Nancy Fischelson and friend Robert Perry (who is also set up) in Nancy's booth. Nancy loves the old linens.

Here is friend Lew Scranton writing up a sale. Look at all the classic antiques from CT.

Great early smalls in the booth of Axtell Antiques, www.axtellantiques.com

Karen Wenhiser in her booth with a great selection of silver Native American and Mexican jewelry, and look at all the hooked rugs. www.WendhiserAntiques.com

Just the best early iron is always found in the booth of Marvin and Barbara Eliot from Windsor, CT. They are really the experts.

Here is a fun booth from Jeff Puklinski from County Seat Antiques, www.countyseatantiques.com

Another nice booth from Zuna Antiques.
Hope you enjoyed this brief visit to a very pretty show in Southern Connecticut. Come and visit next year.

What is it about Cutting Boards?

2011-02-23T12:50:00.000-05:00

What is it about cutting boards, pastry boards, dough boards, bread boards? The everyday homey boards we all use in our kitchens, and our ancestors did the same. Cut the same bread, kneaded the same dough. Maybe that's the appeal, we use pretty much the same boards to do pretty much the same things. OK, I don't guess they served brie and crackers, but maybe they did!

I'm showing a few groups of antique boards we've had over the years. Look at the two taller boards at the back here, they have pencil writing on them and looked to be used as a carpenter's tally sheet.

Here's another big group from last year.

How old are these boards? What are they made of? How are they made? How can you collect them?

Most of the boards you will run across at shows, online etc. date from the late 18th C. (1780 or so) to the 1940s or so. You can pretty much tell from the color of the wood, the shapes, etc.

Here are 2 18th C. ones from my collection. The larger one, a pastry board only has 2 edges. Very unusual. The smaller one is an 18th C. door panel converted to use as a cutting board. Look at the deeper colors and the wear to the soft pine wood.

Here are a group we had from MN, probably late 19th early 20th C.
How are they made? Most boards are simply cut out of a piece of wood. A little later they started adding "breadboard" ends. This prevented splitting of the board. Remember wood always shrinks across the grain, and with all the washing they endure, you can see boards often shrink and get cracks. Cracks in a simple board will cause the board to split in two, bad idea. If you have breadboard ends, you might get a crack in the center of the board, but you can still use it.

Here's a bread board with "breadboard ends" added on. This demonstrates what they look like, and you can also see that the grain on the ends goes the other way, so it will not split like the larger part of the board. Problem solved. The breadboard ends are sometimes held on with dowels, like this example. Often they're held on with square nails, and also the later round nails. It's one way to tell the age of the board, as the round nails were made mostly after the Civil War. It's also a nice example of an oak board, which is not common, for some reason. About half the boards you see are pine, because its cheap and easy to cut.

Here's a nice pine one, with bread board ends all the way around, that's an unusual touch.

The other half are hard wood, such as maple and birch, because it will last a lot longer. Here's a beauty in maple, an elongated octagon.

Here's another one, this time a piece of left over wood used as a cutting board, look at all the cut marks. This one is a rare walnut example.

Here's a good example of a form called a "pastry board", or "noodle board". It has strips of wood added around the edges which keeps the flour from flying around. This one is pine, and has a nice hanging hole. These are also popular as the larger size is convenient for hiding your sink or stove or?

Sometimes you can find the boards in paint, whether original or added later to brighten up a kitchen. This blue one is pine.

Here's a nice musard one, with breadboard ends.

The boards come in many pleasing shapes. This tombstone form is one of the most popular right now, the name comes from the form at the top of the old tombstones. This example is pine, and not too old.

Here are a couple with nice age on them.

This one has nice age and a great coat of old green paint.

Another popular form is the octagon. This one has nice age.

This one was pine, and a bit larger.

Here's a nice round one, a form you don't see too often.

Another favorite form is this thin style. You see these once in a while, and they're usually only about 1/4" thick.

Here's sort of a make-do cutting board, the top of a barrel used as a cutting board. Hey, make do with what you got!

Look at the round cutting board with a slight domed top surface, and lathe turned rings around the edge. These were used for cutting meat, and the juices could run down the dome and be caught at the edge.

Here's my collection of fishy cutting boards. (My husband loves to fish!) There are many charming forms for cutting boards. There's the ever popular piggy, they're pretty common, as are state forms. I have also seen strawberries, dogs, cats, rabbits, flowers, flower pots and sprinklers, mice, pine trees, apples and probably more I can't remember. These make a fun collection.So there are many collections you could make with cutting boards. You can collect all tiny ones, or all huge ones( I've seen them up to 6' long!). You can collect paint or treen. You can collect different woods or different areas of the country. Think about a group of different octagonal ones. And of course different shapes. Maybe all Scotties? What is nice is that they are still reasonable affordable, and are available all over the country. And I think its safe to say they are all American, so far no icky imports and repros. So have fun and let me know if you come up with some creative ideas.

House Progress Downstairs Bedroom Part #2

2011-01-27T18:38:00.000-05:00

My dream is finally coming true! Isn't it looking pretty great? Look at the "before" picture below.

Now you can see how I've spent my winter. I've been painstakingly scrapping off the later blue and yellow paints over this wonderful original buttermilk paint. I love the color of the wall of sheathing, kind of mustard, kind of pumpkin. It's just warm and welcoming on these cold winter days. And I admire the color combination of the gray trim with the pumpkin wall, very subtle, and easy to live with.

And here is a corner with the trim, also stripped. And again, just some gray paint remaining. Look at the bottom of the corner post. Can you see how the previous owner cut away the bottom of the corner post to put in their baseboard heater. What some people won't do! We'll have a jolly old time repairing that, and making it look okay with the rest of the old trim. Thank goodness back in the day the original builders used huge material. Can you think what would happen if you cut a hole 4" deep out of the corner of a new house? It would surely fall down.

Here you can see my next problem. At some time in the past they put a skim coat of plaster over the original plaster, with some texture stuff in it, and over time its gotten all cracked and nasty. The gray area you seen is the original horsehair plaster.

Here you can see the results of a week's worth of work! Not much to show. I have been painfully scrapping off the plaster in itty bitty 1/4" pieces. I don't think I'll live long enough to get the ceiling clean. And then what? The original plaster is tight to the ceiling, not loose or broken anywhere. But it has a network of cracks. If I spackle them I'll have a network of white spackle, ugly. Should I give up and sheet rock over it? What to do?

Dear readers, I have a decorating question for you. Please, please look at the picture above and help me out. We have pine floors, mustardy wall on one wall, and gray and pine trim. What should I do with the 3 plaster walls. I have a blue cupboard that goes in here, and a blue 4 poster bed, and some 18th C crewel panels that have mustard with blue and red embroidery. I don't think I want to stay with the dark blue buttermilk paint. Too many colors, and its in too bad of shape. under the blue paint you can see where it was once the same mustardy color. Oyster white walls? Repeat the mustard color in a dry butermilk paint on the walls? Help? Please leave comments, I really would like some feed back.

Glastonbury New Years Show

2011-01-03T10:44:00.000-05:00

Look at the crowd still coming in at noon! It's always been a popular show, but wow what a difference the weather makes. We had a balmy holiday weekend following the blizzard, so I guess everyone wanted to get out of the house.
This is the annual New Year's Show in Glastonbury, CT. Not a big show, about 62 dealers in the high school gym. But a fun show to do or shop. Very mixed show, only a few country dealers. For example, my neighbor showed jewelry and old fur coats from Manhattan, and was fun to listen to as she sold her wares.

Look at the crowd in my booth!

Here's a pic of my booth without all the lovely customers.

Here's my neighbor across the way, Dom and Susan De Baise Antiques from Rocky Hill, CT.

Here's my next door neighbor, Martin Webster, West Branch Antiques from Delhi, NY

Here's my favorite thing at the show, a whaling ship desk ornament, with whales flukes to hold your pen, ink bottle in the center, a scrimshawed pic of the ship, the name and the captain's name, and under the center flap that lifts is the whale stamp for using in your ledger when you got a whale! Wow, now that is neat. Shown by Capt. Ron Wojcik at Green Highlander Gallery.

Here's the booth of my friend Tina Black all the way from PA.

Another fun booth. CT is seafaring country you know.

Another booth, lots of nice stuff. I hope you had fun looking at the pics of the show, and maybe you can shop here next New Year's. Have a fun and lucky New Year yourself!

House Progress Downstairs Bedroom Part #1

2010-12-18T20:58:00.002-05:00

This is the downstairs bedroom. Its a fairly small room on the right side of the house as you face the front door, and behind the stairs to upstairs. Having a private bedroom was pretty advanced for the day. In earlier times the adults would have slept in the parlor.

Here is a view looking into the room from the keeping room. You can see it has all original plaster and trim. The plaster walls have a dark blue buttermilk paint on them that is quite spotty now. Unfortunately the previous owners put wallpaper over it, and in pulling off the paper, a lot of the old paint came off too. Oh, well, it sort of looks like Pompeii.

If you ignore my tools, you can see the beautiful original wide pine floors, never sanded or finished or dinked with, just perfect.

If you look to your right as you walk in you can see this wall, facing the street. Great enclosed corner posts, early baseboard and chair rail, and 18th C. 12 over 12 windows. And decrepit 18th C wall paint of course, and sadly modern trim paint dribbled all over the old. Sigh!

Keep looking around to the right behind yourself and you can see this wonderful wall of original 18th C. sheathing. Covered in modern paint of course.

And here's the door you came in through. A nice 18th C paneled door. Why lemon yellow one wonders? It is the right door, the gray buttermilk paint underneath matches the trim on the windows exactly.

Do you see what I see? I've taken my heat gun to a spot on the sheathed wall, and look at the pretty old paint, a cross between mustard and pumpkin. Very pretty. I can see how I'll be spending my winter.

A few weeks later, its starting to look pretty good! I need to find the right tool to get down in between the boards, but otherwise I'm pretty happy.

Waters Tavern Barn and Antiques Sale

2010-12-05T21:08:00.000-05:00

Hanging out by the wonderful campfire, here's a few of the dealers and Cheryl Bonin (in the white vest) our hostess at the Waters Tavern Barn and Antiques Sale. She owns this fabulous property in West Sutton, MA with the old tavern, the old mill behind on the stream, and the most amazing stone work I've ever seen. Most of the sale was in the barn, and a few of us hardy sorts set up outside. Yes, I did say outside in December in Massachusetts. Luckily it was a great day.

Another view of the front of the mill.

Look at the unbelievable workmanship of the stonework on the mill run . I've never seen a self supporting stone bridge like this outside Japan. Incredible.

Here's my humble booth outside.

Doesn't this entrance look inviting?

A few pics of the inside of the barn, doesn't it look all Christmassy?

I wish I had a chance to take a few pics when it was really crowded early in the day, it was quite packed. Oh, then there was the adventure where the old stove backed up, and we all got smoked out. Always something going on. So, put this on your shopping list for next year. Because if you don't find an antique or decoration you can love, you will surely love the hot cider and homemade cookies, but best of all is the warm camaraderie.

Wethersfield, CT Antique Show

2010-11-24T13:04:00.000-05:00

Isn't this a charming entrance to the show? This late November show is in an historic area SW of Hartford called Wethersfield. A great place to visit historic houses if you are here in the summer.

I'm just posting a few of my favorite booths at this very pretty show. Here is Steve Cirillo, The Paisley Pineapple Antique. Nice cupboard, no?

Another favorite, Jan and John Maggs, www.jmaggs.com That little joint stool could sure go home with me.

This great booth belongs to Carol Wojtkun www.carolsearlyamericanantiques.com Amongst all the great stuff, I admire the way she made a group of all the same variety stone fruit in her compote, just as if you just came home from the market.

I don't know if I'd pick the highboy or the QA mirror, too many nice choices. This is the booth of Brian Bartizek, South Windham CT.

Isn't this just the best? I love the way they even decorate the ladies for the show. Makes a necessity a pleasure.

Wish I had time to picture everyone at the show, it was all great. If you can next November, come and enjoy.

CHS Needlework Exhibit Part 2

2010-11-21T17:14:00.003-05:00

Here's the rest of the enchanting needlework exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society. Above is a charming sampler by Lydia Church. What a needleworker she was! I love the black border, and the naive figures.

Look at her parasol!

And look at these flowers, just sweet little bundles of thread.

Here's another favorite. It was made by Frederic William Tuttle, a man's name if you will notice. It also says, " made in the 45th year of our nation's independence".

Here are 2 remarkable embroidered pictorial scenes. I like the lady blowing the flute to the cows in the lake. Do they like music?

This is another embroidered picture. It shows the three stages of life, the baby in the cradle, the woman embroidering, and the coffin. I wish you could have seen all the delicate stitches, and I love the harmony of the colors.

I will finish with these magnificent bed hangings. Look at the detail of the parrot. Just breath taking. Boy, I could take these right home!

Anyhow, I recommend you find the time to check out this great exhibit at the Connecticut Historical Society, www.chs.org

CHS Needlework Exhibit Part #1

2010-11-19T14:33:00.001-05:00

What a treat! For a birthday present Cy and I went to the Connecticut Historical Society's new needlework exhibit. It's about the amazing needlework done by CT women in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Those of you who know me know I JUST LOVE early needlework, especially 17th and 18th century embroidery. I have a bit in my house, I try to have some for sale on my website. Just love it!
The image above it in the entry of the show, a dramatic bed rug from the mid 18th C. CT. I have seen a few bed rugs, and they've all been hooked, kind of like hooked rugs. This one was embroidered, with darning and couching stitches, and probably others I don't know the name of.

Another unbelievable bed rug, again embroidered.

On the detail pic you can see the darning stitches in the brown background. Above the large central flower was a name and date, about 1768 if I remember right.

Here's the third bed rug, this one is hooked with what looked like wool thread through a wool back.

A great calamanco in just mint condition. I wish you could see how crispy it still was. Yes, I peeked, the back was butternut linsey.

Just look at the detail!

One of few known 18th C. petticoats embroidered in crewel. Made here in CT! By a very persistent lady I'd say.

Here is a detail. So fine and delicate, the wood threads look like spiderweb. And its amazing the colors are still so strong.

I will finish today's edition with this man's wallet, John Storrs, 1754, in fact. It's quite rare to see a landscape on a wallet. Usually they are geometric designs, and rarely crewel flowers, so really really rarely landscapes.

I'll post the rest tomorrow.

If you are in Connecticut any time between now and March 26, 2011, I highly recommend this exhibit. Check out www.chs.org for more info, and there's a great book with pictures of all the exhibits you can buy also.

Dogs, moss and more, just a perfect day.

2010-11-16T19:21:00.002-05:00

We've had such an outstanding week of weather here in CT, we've really enjoyed our time outdoors. Don't these dogs look happy. Just imagine the waggy tails!

Here's our excuse, Cy is cutting up firewood. We found this old dead tree at the back of our property, and hopefully we'll get 2 cords of wood out of it, hickory we think. So the dogs and I are "helping", well really running around, and trying to help haul wood back up the hill.

Look at the pretty creek with the mossy ledge.

And of course after all that work you just have to jump in the water.

Look what Lucy found!

Oh, its a home for Leprechans, all carpeted in velvet moss!

Moss heaven

2010-11-14T16:18:00.000-05:00

Ever since I've moved to CT, I've just fallen in love with the terrain out here. The damper climate allows all kinds of mosses and lichens to grow, something I never saw much of in Minnesota. Here are a few pics from my garden. Look at the pillow of bright green moss on this old granite step, and look at the gray lichens on the step above.

Here's a view of the end of the stone wall. Look at the pillows of moss growing right on the rocks. I've been reading up, and apparently moss has little or no roots, and gets most of its water and nutrition from the air and rain.

Look at the moss and lichens on my ancient twisty apple tree. Under here is where I want to have a real moss garden, like in Japan. OK, no goofy statues and stuff, just a soft carpet of various shades of soft cushiony moss. I've been "grooming" the area, raking off leaves and stuff, which prevents the moss from getting air and water. Now I go out every nice day and hand pull out some grass. Maybe someday I can walk barefoot on my beautiful moss garden.

Here's my new favorite book:

Native Mosses Ferns and Grasses by William Cullina of the New England Wildflower Society

Shelburne Museum Part 2

2010-10-19T14:24:00.000-04:00

Here is the second part of our tour of Shelburne Museum in VT. Hope you enjoy!

Here are some very pretty herb gardens and fruit trees.

Just a simple corner of the country house, love the old bucket and lid, next to the elegant tea table.

One of my favorite views, this simple country bedroom. I could move right in!

Another herb garden back by the barns, more country in spirit.

Here is the world famous hat box collection, what a treat.

I love the top left blue one, "A view of the moon".

Another country house, love the built in shelves next to the fireplace.

Something you don't often see in restorations, snowshoes. But in snow country you know they had to have them to get around.

Here is my absolute favorite area. I am trying, without any success at all, to rebuild some of the stone walls that are on our property. Here they showed several styles of stone walls found in NE, and tips on how they are built. Now all I need is a class or 2 (wish there was such a thing!) and a stronger back. Stone walls are not for wimps.

This wall is called a "lace wall". It is only one layer of stones in thickness, stacked one on the other with little holes here and there, like lace. Oh, if only I could!

Shelburne Museum Part #1

2010-10-15T14:38:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we went up to the Shelburne Museum in VT, while we were up in VT shopping the cluster of VT antiques shows that occur during the leaf season. Wow, what an experience. The museum has a group of restored and furnished antique buildings as well as fabulous hand carved circus of over 1000 figures, a steam paddle boat for the wealthy from the early 1900's, and so much more. An afternoon was not enough to see it all. I am going to post some pics I took of the old houses, as those were my favorite. Please know I only had my phone to use for a camera, so the pics are not the best.

The pics here are of the Katherine Murphy Prentice house, my favorite. Apparently she was a wealthy collector of the old days who contributed to a number of museums, and she must have liked all the things I like. If I was wealthy, my house would look just like this! Anyhow, above is the buttery. The house has been recently redone, so all the paintwork was redone. The kitchen and buttery are a beautiful deep green. I love all the treen and early redware. Such a great collection.

Here is another view of that buttery.

Here is a fragment mirror in the kitchen, such a large size, and just perfect color and condition.

Here is the dining room, probably my favorite. I love the tiny Pilgrim chest, and look at the white delft lobed dish, and the early iron and brass lighting, and look at the huge wide brimmed pewter platter on the wall.

Another view of the dining room, more great delft. Look at the huge white candlestick on the table. I begged the tour guide to look the other way so I could slip in in my purse, but no, she just laughed. Apparently its not the first suggestion of this type she's heard. The flamestitch was rewoven to exactly match the fabrics she chose when the house was originally done.

Another view of the dining room. Look at the tiny court cupboard from the 17th C, and all the delft posset pots lined up on the top. I guess posset was a hot drink of booze and barley, and you sipped it out of the spouts on the front of the pot, and passed it around, yummy!

17th C. embroidery in perfect condition.

Oh, I would kill for this wallbox. Look at the early chip carving, and the heart, and the lollipops along the top. Not to mention the great surface, the rosehead nails. Oh why wasn't I born rich and brave, to collect these early things when everyone else liked porcelain, and dainty stuff like that.

I wish you could see better the great carving on the base of the armchair, has to be William and Mary. And look at the mirror, it's a courting mirror, which you do see fairly often, but then it is put in a wood surround with fabulous carved crest with a heart. I wish I could have gotten closer for you to see it , but it was all roped off, as it should be. I think it's good to keep these old treasures safe.

Look at the beautiful bedroom upstairs. One of the local societies hand embroidered the curtains for the bed, I wish I could remember their name.

Here's the back of the beehive oven upstairs.

Here's the outside view of the house.

Look at the sconces! Aren't they just the best you've ever seen? And there's a pair. Look also at the tiny carved and decorated and dated desk box. This is in the borning room.

Here is a view of the kitchen. Look at the washboard with the huge carved knuckles, and the heart. He must have been really in love.

One more thing, here is a wrought iron blanket crane. I've never seen one before. This one is very delicate, and about 5' long.

That's all for now, I'll post the other half of the tour in a day or so.

House Progress, "The New Room"

2010-10-05T15:46:00.005-04:00

Updated 12/17 Please keep looking at the bottom of the page, we'll add pictures as the work progresses.

July 26th What a thrill! After 6 months of waiting and planning and dreaming, we are really starting on gutting the "new room". Actually it's the room that housed the old kitchen, which was a shed that was moved and added onto our 3/4 cape in the 1920's, we think. I am calling it the new room, as I'm not sure what exactly it will be used for when it's done. Yes, it will hide the washer and dryer, and the well pump. But what else? It's in between the keeping room and the kitchen, so that's a hint. Well, stay tuned! All will be revealed, as soon as I figure it out. Here you can see Cy, prybar in hand, starting to take up the 1920's narrow pine floor.

July 27th Here you are looking down through the structure beneath the 1920's floor. The big joke is that the joists are ridiculously small for the job, only 2" x 4"s, and a 1" x 6", and some of them are broken and one is propped up on some bricks. Its a wonder we didn't fall through! But the treasure is the original 18th C floor about a foot underneath. I don't suppose you can see the early nails and wonderful patina. They must have left the original floor, and added a new one higher up, probably to deal with the slope of the land.

Aug. 27 Here we've removed the 18th C. floorboards (we'll reuse them in our future bathroom) You can see the 18th C hewn logs supporting the floor, but all rotted off on the ends, and dropped out of the sill. In the 18th C they didn't build a foundation, and then add a sill, and then the walls and floor, etc. No, first they laid 4 massive beams, called sills, in a square on 4 rocks, and built up from there. So you can see, if your sill is rotted, as ours was, you have nothing to support your house, and it could fall down. Bad plan. If you look carefully at the far end of the logs (this is the wall that faces the street) you can see our dark chestnut sill, curved and crooked. It was rotted by carpenter ants and pushed inward by a tree that was growing into the house. You can also see no basement here, just dirt and rocks under the floor, and rocks tucked in under the sill. This is why the floors in old houses can be so cold, and damp, and your house can be invaded by mice and snakes, etc. Yuck! Also you see white "snow" on the dirt, this is "pearls" of foam insulation blown in in the '70s, that of course filtered down and gets into everything.

This is interesting, this is the original outside of the old house. They must have taken off the siding when they added on the shed. You can see the old wide boards, all hand sawn, later whitewashed and papered, maybe for insulation.

Here you are looking up into the roof of the old shed.

9/26 Here again we are looking at the wall that faces the street. We've removed all the floor and joists and logs, all the loose rock and dirt, and actually removed the sill itself. We put jack posts and car jacks under the house to keep it upright.

Here is the view from the outside. Sorry the bush is hiding the car jack under the corner post.

Here is Cy pushing the new sill in place. We used pressure treated wood, we don't ever want to have to do this again. Who you don't see on the other end of the sill is our wonderful friend Gary Wirth who spent days helping us with this huge project.

Here is the new sill going in from the outside.

And here is the new sill in place, staight and level. You know about old houses, this is probably the only level thing in this room.

Here are Gary and Cy bolting cleats to the wall studs to support the new floor joists.

Here are most of the new joists in place. Yeah! Now I can get from the kitchen to the rest of the house without going outside.

10/25/10
Here you can see the space under the sill is filled in with native rock, as they call it out here, and lots of concrete and squirty foam. This is to keep out wetness and cold drafts, not to mention mice, snakes, etc. All the creatures that love our old houses.

Here you can see that nice rock foundation from the outside. The outside of the house is now closed up with plywood and Tyvek, ready for some siding and trim and paint. Hope the warm weather keeps up and we can get the outside mostly finished this year.

Here is the outside closed up nice for the winter. Too bad it couldn't stay warm just a littleeee bit longer, so I could get it painted.

12/17

Again, we're looking towards the road. But look at my nice sturdy new joists that will hold up my floor! And look at the clever panels of plywood between the joists. Covered with plastic they will keep out the damp of the dirt floor, and drafts and snakes, and etc. Then we lay the soft pink insulation on top of the panels.

Here is the pink stuff in between the joists, ready to put the plywood subfloor on top. You would think this would be easy, but I forgot to tell you about the well tank we had to move, and the new lines for the washer and dryer that have to go under the joists before we can get this far. Those black pipes in the bottom of the pic are the water lines covered in their tidy black insulation.Oh, and lets not mention the propane gas pipe that took 4 weeks to arrive, that also had to go under the floor. So its been a slow fall as far as progress.

Isn't this exciting? It's the water tank for the well. I hate spending money on this stuff. I could have bought a heck of a nice piece of furniture for what all this cost, of course it is nice to have fresh well water to drink! We do live in Stafford SPRINGS, CT you know, famous for it's healthy spring water. (If you're lost, you're looking at the door into the keeping room, and that big mess to the far right is my future washing machine.)

Walker Homestead Show

2010-09-29T10:27:00.002-04:00

Aren't they cute? These were "customers" at the Walker Homestead show last weekend.

Here is the line at 9 a.m. We opened at 10 a.m.

Here is Kris the owner of these beautiful properties welcoming customers.

Here is a row of booths where we were.

Here are some pics of our booth.

Here is the booth of our friend Sue Wirth shared with her daughter Molly.

Here is Kris's great old garden shop.
Kathleen McStay Foynes paying for her table in another cute booth.

This show mixed antiques and crafts. Here are some great penny rugs.

Some dealers relaxing in the afternoon.

Friend Karen Oberg trying to get set up on Friday. Kris's fine old house in the background.

Really beautiful hooked rugs by Michelle Harter in this booth.

Gardens, chickens, delicious food and a bluegrass band that played ALL day and were great. What else could you want from a show? Oh lets not forget dealer friends and customer friends, hello again to Edith and Jack from Texas. A fun day was had by all.

Tour of the old Gaol in York, ME

2010-08-22T14:00:00.001-04:00

Here is a picture of my friend Marion in the stocks in front of the old Gaol. The gaol was first a stone building in the 17th C., and later in the 18th C. it was added onto with living quarters for the jailer and his wife. She has to cook for her family and the prisoners. There was quite a bit of info about how jails were used in the old days, as short term holding cells, until their trial and sentence, hanging, branding, flogging etc. The idea was to get their punishment over with so they could get back to work for the community needed every one's contribution.

Here's one of the 18th C. cells with a cobbler's bench. This was so he could work and pay off his debts. Look at the great early light. Sorry I did not get any pics of the 17th C area, so dark, the windows were only 8" square. No glass, so I guess it was pretty cold in the winter.

Here's a favorite from the jailer's family quarters.I can't wait to try one of my cutting boards this way, as a game table. Here the children were learning to count.

Again in the 18th C part, a built in privy that drains to the outdoors. What luxury!

Here's Marion posing next to an idiot's chair, a sad commentary on the treatment of the mentally ill in the old days. Look at the holes for tying the person in, and tying it to the floor. And of course the potty underneath.

I thought you'd like this "ancient" treen plate from the museum area.

Tour of Plymouth

2010-08-22T13:25:00.004-04:00

On our way south from Maine, we decided to spend a day and tour a classic New England piece of history. We went to Plymouth, MA. I did not go to Plimouth Plantation, as I have been there before, but I do recommend you go if you're in the area. We viewed the Plymouth rock, OK, its a rock, and toured the Mayflower 2, an accurate copy of the famous ship that brought the pilgrim here.

What a pretty view, no? Next we went to the famous Pilgrim Hall, a museum showing many of the pilgrim's actual possessions, and a lot of great information about their lives and the era.

A great early carved chest and carver type chair.

A fabulous writing box from Holland, inlaid with shell. Look at the early glasses and their carved wooden case.

Another early chair, a wainscot style this time, and a great large gateleg table.

After that we hiked around town, saw the sarcophagus that commemorates the burial after dark of the first settlers who died. This was done to hide from the Indians the terrible loss of life. Further up the hill we walked through the early graveyard, so lonely and beautiful.

Aren't these sweet, leaning together in death as in life.

Of course after all of this hiking about, we needed lunch. Here is the view from our table at the Lobster Hut. Great shore lunch, sweetest scallops I think I've ever had.

Then we got the car and visited a few old houses. Here is the Howland house.

Here is a great old broom I thought you'd like, the top is bound up with fishing twine.

And here is a great rush light we found in the parlor. Isn't it great? Wish I could have bought it, but no, its a museum Judi!

Here is the earliest remaining house, the Sparrow house. I'm only showing you the exterior, as the interior was pretty dire.

After that we went home and collapsed. What a great time, looking at all that American history, it makes you feel so in touch with the old days. I'm glad I wasn't a Pilgrim, but I am proud that they were our ancestors. If you want to read a riveting book about their trials and tribulations, read Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. It's kind of hard to read, I kept having to put it down for a day or two, as he wrote so clearly that I felt their difficulties keenly.

Don't you love history?

What color is treen? All About Treen, Part 1

2010-04-26T10:43:00.002-04:00

What color is treen? What is attic surface? What turns wood dark, or light? How can I tell a refinish from an old surface? What really is old surface? Yikes!

Look at all the colors of the woods above. Which one is a dry original surface? Which one is cleaned down? Which one was refinished? Which ones are whitened with old washing? For answers, see the end of this post.

Lets first ask, how does wood color naturally? Well, wood ages like we all do, by the action of air and heat on the surface. It is called oxidizing. If you've ever seen the inside of an old attic, the underside of the roof, and beams, that's all you need to know. The heat and the exposure to air will color the wood by the extreme action of the elements on the wood. Wood is a natural product, made of carbon and water, just like you and me. Leave us out in the sun,and what happens? We tan, we get age spots and freckles, and wrinkles, and well you get the idea. However, if we are carefully protected from heat and exposure to air, we will not get tan.

Here is a pic of some parts to the inside of 18th C grandfather clocks. But it is a perfect example of how being protected can prevent aging. Look at the left hand frame, and the lighter colored circle. That is where a round gear was attached for 200 years, so that part of the frame did not darken nearly as much as the rest of the frame. Perfect example. And while we're here, look at the top edge of the bases of the frame. Now there's only one time that these protected, hidden parts of the clocks would be touched, when they were worked on. And you can clearly see on the top edges of the bases where the clockmaker would grab the base and lift the frame up and out of the clock to work on it. These clock parts make good examples, as you know they were never finished or refinished or touched in any way, as they would never show. Only time and air and heat and some dust falling through the cracks in the hood would affect the native NE hardwoods.

Another action that affects color is dirt, dust etc. what we often call patina. Here is a fine early spice container, and look at the tops of the turnings. This is what we want to see, as think of a dusty old attic. The dust would fall on the top edges, so you want those top edges to be dark, from the patina of the ages. Look at the top of the foot, see, very dark. Look however at the knob, not so dark. Think fingers, and a dust cloth, as this piece did get some wear, maybe when it was taken out of the attic and made ready to sell.

Look at the knob on this gorgeous covered spice container. Look at the top surface of the foot, where the dirt and light will fall, and look how much darker it is than the top of the lid where a dust cloth will keep the surface lighter. And look at the ridge where the top joins the base, a nice place where fingers to apply a little polish. Remember, our fingers have a bit of natural oil, and we apply to whatever we touch.

Look at the great turnings on this bowl, and look at the nice wear on the base, just where you'd want to see it. You might ask, why so much color difference here? Here you are looking at an 18th C mahogany bowl with tremendous darkness from dirt and patina, see how very dark the depth of the turnings are. On the base, the constant wear and abrasion from use on a table would not only wear off the patina, its worn right down into the bare wood.

Here is that spice container again, and look how light in color the base is. It sat on that base for years with no use and it was protected from the air and heat.

We talked earlier about refinishing. Here is a sweet little salt that was I think cleaned down. Look at the chisel marks on the inside, where the maker shaped the inside curves, and see how much darker they are. Why would that be? I think the whole piece was very dark, and someone in the past scrubbed or sanded the piece to clean or lighten it up. When you scrub or sand or steel wool, you really just take off the higher points, and unless you're very through, you leave the deeper areas dark and dirty as they were. So in this piece, you see the high points and edges are lighter, and the deeper areas are the original darker color.

Here is another example of color of treen. This is the back of an early drysink I had. Look at how the untouched unfinished back darkened over time. Look at the lighter areas where it rubbed against the wall for hundreds of years. That is the natural light pine color, and the rest is darkened aged pine, attic surface. Think how hard this would be to fake. Always look carefully at the back and underside of an antique. Very few fakers do much to them. Maybe he'll do a coat of dark stain to make it look older, but no nice wear marks, mouse holes, dust and cobwebs. Look at the variety of wear marks, small and large, deep and shallow, and the wear under the edge where you would grab it to move it. Few fakers would go to this much trouble to make a back look genuine.

Here's another color of treen. This is an old cheese drainer. Look at the gray or ash colored surface of the wood. This could be caused by lye soap, which used ash. It could also be caused by the action of the rennet in cheese and dairy work. This is an honest color of treen, usually seen in kitchen and dairy items. While we're at it, lets look at the worm holes. See how unevenly they are distributed, just like the natural work of the worms. These you see on items stored in damp areas, where the bugs thrive. Thus you find them on antiques from Europe and New England, and rarely on antiques from the Midwest.

Look at the variations of color on these treen plates. On the two plates on the left, and the hanging plate you can see darks and lights distributed over the face of the plate. Light colors on the edges where they were more worn, and darkness inside the rims, where crud would accumulate. Look at the plate on the right. This nice tiger maple plate was refinished at some time, so the color is even all over the plate, no darks and lights from wear, but some shadows on the right from the lighting.

OK, here is the test picture again. Can you see the whitish tone of two of the cutting boards, due to lye soap? Can you see the white lines where lye soap accumulated in the lines of the scrub board? Do you remember our cleaned down small dark bowl? Now look at the even color of medium brown in the tall treen candlestick. Do you think it was refinished a while ago? We know it was quite a while ago, as there is beginning to be darkness on the top edges of the turnings from dust or soot. Look at the beautiful variations of color on the herb grinder, lights and darks, wear on the edges. Look at the variations of natural color on the dark walnut cutting board at the back.

Did you pass the test? Are you now an expert on attic surface? If I missed anything, leave me a comment, or email me at bluedogantiques@gmail.com, and I'll answer you back. Check back soon for part 2, about treen plates.

Stone Fruit Pictures

2010-04-02T23:18:00.002-04:00

OK, here's an open invitation. Or maybe I'm just begging here. Anyhow, send me some pics of your stone fruit collection. I want to post pictures of lots of stone fruit collections and displays, so we can all drool, and get some new ideas for display.

So to start off, here is a pic of J.M.'s collections in Kentucky, the pic above and below.

And if that's not enough, look at this great collection from D.P. in New York State.

So come on, send me your pics. Just a regular jpeg from your camera or phone, just something easy. I'll use your name, or go anonymous, whatever you like. But take a minute and send a pic to my email, bluedogantiques@gmail.com

Breathless in anticipation,

Judi

Updated 4/28/10

Look at this great bowl from S.K. in NY state. Love the variety of color and size, nice mix of darks and lights.

Renninger's Mount Dora Antique Show in Florida

2010-02-22T21:57:00.000-05:00

I was recently at the Mount Dora antiques show in Florida, and I thought all you antiquers might want to take a look. Above is my friend Ken from Maine's booth. In the winter at Mount Dora, you will see a few snow birds from the northern climes setting up in Florida, to make a little money and get some sun.

Mostly you see dealers from Florida setting up with typical antiques that end up in the Florida antiques market.

This booth is more typical, a mixture of imports and local estate finds.

Can you see, Mt. Dora is built on what I think is the only hill in Florida.

Last weekend was the first warm day in a long time, and the customers came! Sales were OK for some, bad for others and very good for a few, as things have been in this market. And this market is shrinking, as many are. Dealers who do not sell cannot afford to come back, so this show had many empty spots, as many shows do these days. I've talked to so many dealers who are looking for another way to make a living. They have to sell their inventory at cost to buy groceries, but soon you have nothing left to sell. So collectors, if you have a favorite show to shop, don't just attend, and put money in the promoter's pocket, but buy an antique and support the dealers. I know, I know, you say you are afraid to spend right now, but so many of us are looking at quitting the business. I am afraid that there will soon be no shows to go to, no friendly dealers to explain things to you, no booths of wonderful things to look at and learn about and dream of. Where else can you pick up an antique in your hand, feel it, examine it, talk about it, learn about it and price it? Not online, pictures just aren't good enough. Not at the auction house, they don't guarantee their things. Certainly not at the garage sales. No where.

Look at this fun display.

Mt. Dora has a flea market also, with orchids and produce and socks and dog toys and sunglasses, and you know. The orchids were $8.!

So next time you are in Florida, come and shop. You might just find a treasure! The extravaganzas are in November, January and February.

Hog Scraper Candlesticks

2010-01-28T10:45:00.002-05:00

Here is a classic icon of American country style of decorating. What is a picture of a harvest table or painted dry sink without seeing a hog scraper candle stick on the top? You see them in all the books. But what are they? What are they made of, where do they come from, are there fakes out there and so on. Many questions for such a simple item.

The earlier hog scraper candle sticks actually were made in Europe, mostly in England, but also France and Holland. Most of the early lighting used in this country was made in Europe. This was partly because of the laws that prevented us from making our own, to protect the English manufacturers, and partly because our technology just wasn't advanced enough at the time. Hog scrapers, like much other lighting is made from tinned sheet iron, and it would take quite a force to make fine even sheets of iron, and then to mold the sheet of iron into the forms we love today. The first known patent for an American hog scraper was in 1853.

I think all the early hog scrapers had a hook extending from the top edge, called a hanger. This was to hang to candle stick from your chair back or a nearby shelf to get the light closer to your work or your book. Be careful, don't burn your wig! Actually, if you look you can sometimes see burn marks on the top slat of a chair or the the top of a settle. In the pic above on the right you can see a proper hanger. Hangers are always wider where they attach to the candle stick top. If not, see the bit about fakes below. On the left stick you can see where the original hanger was broken off. They often broke, partly I suppose because that part is fairly thin.

Here is a pic of the base of the three main eras of hog scrapers. On the right is the earliest type, supposedly made in the 18th C. It has two "tabs" that come down through two slots in the base, and then are "cleated" or pounded over to hold the whole stick together. These 18th C sticks are the rarest on the market, as you might imagine. Maybe 1 in 50 hog scrapers are this early type. They also usually cost more. The middle base is from the classic form of hog scraper you usually see in pictures or in the market. They are made in the 19th C. still usually made in Europe. After the Revolution we began to make more of our own goods. This type has a nut that attaches to a screw that is inside the tube part, screwing it down tight to hold the whole stick together. Once in a while you see washers or other devices to hold the nut on tighter as it wore down from use. On the left is what is called the American hog scraper. These are generally considered to be made in the US. The metal is a little lighter, and you can see the ring that clips on and holds the whole thing together. So you see, if you look at the base, you can always date your hog scraper.

Here is the "donut" as seen on both the 18th and 19th C candle sticks.

Here is the ring that holds the American candle stick "tube" to the base.

Here is what is called the Wedding Band hog scraper. You can see the brass "wedding" band in the middle. Just a little glitter for that dark Colonial interior. Again these are fairly rare on the market. As you can imagine they cost more in the day, and fewer people could afford to buy them. Beware, beware! I can't find a pic to show you, but there are so many fake wedding bands out there. It is so easy to cut a hog scraper candle stick "shaft" and solder a brass ring in the middle. But if you look carefully, you can see the solder ring on each side of the brass one, which you cannot see in the old ones.

Here is a pic of a repro I copied off the internet. Note the long curved hanger. Even if this one had been left out in the rain and got rust and patina, even then you would be able to recognize it. Also, notice the donut is not made separate, but is one piece with the base.

References

Here a few good books I used and I recommend

Colonial Lighting Arthur Hayward Dover

Candle Holders in American Joseph Butler Bonanza

Fire and Light in the Home John Caspall Antique Collector Club

Stone Fruit

2010-01-09T09:48:00.001-05:00

I've been dealing in antique stone fruit for many years, and often customers new to collecting stone fruit have questions, such as "how old is it", "what is it made of", "how can you tell the difference between the good old stuff, the newer stuff, and the fakes", and so on. So I will attempt to give a few answers.

First off, its not exactly stone fruit, its really painted Italian marble fruit, but collectors and dealers refer to it as stone fruit. Stone fruit was first made in the Victorian days, and became very popular after WWII, and is still made today.

Look at the beautiful fruit above. It is the most popularly collected stone fruit, call it the "good stuff", if you will. The good stuff was made in Italy, between 60 and 100 years ago, from white Carrara marble. The Italians made fruits, miniature fruits, oversize fruits, nuts and vegetables. They are hand carved, and you can sometimes see the chisel marks. It is hand painted, and the paint is quite dry, you can sometimes see the black marble veins through the paint, and the colors have softened with time. The grapes were wired onto pieces of real grape vine, the stems in all the fruit are short pieces of grape vine, and the cherries are wired together. The peanuts and almonds are carved out of travertine stone, and its many small pits give the look of the real nuts. They feel cold against your cheek, like real stone would do.

Can you tell the difference here? On the left is a newer stone peach, where the blush is sponged or sprayed on, and on the right is a good old one. Look at the rich deep yellows and reds. Remember, they took the lead out of paint in the '70s, and you never saw the good deep reds again. And look at the wear and patina. Wear and tear and accidental teeth marks of small boys are part of the history of an old piece. More than one customer has smilingly told me of how he tried to bite his grandmother's stone fruit.

Here are two nice stone fruit "halves".

Here's a nice group of stone veggies I had last year from the "second period." You can see the hand painting is pretty nice, and they are definitely hand carved, see the carrot!

Here is a pic from a recent visit to the famous York Antique show. Another type of stone fruit to collect is "oversized" stone fruit. They made most forms in a larger than life format. The grapes you commonly see, the others are quite rare. The apple here was about 5" in diameter and maybe 6" tall, see the comparison of the business card. The prices ranged from $700 to $2,300. I thought they were overpriced, but the guy said he used a recent sale at Skinners that brought even higher prices as a comparison.

The "second period" of stone fruit from Italy started in the '70s, when they started using spray paint to paint the marble fruit. They were very good, and the earlier pieces from this time look quite nice, blending the colors well, and adding some hand painted details. Also, I've had some pieces from this time with paper stickers that say "hand carved by Professor (fill in the blank)". Later the paints got very bright and careless in blending, and the surface got shiny. They did less hand carving, and you can see the mechanical lathe turning marks on the round pieces. The other major flaw with this time period was the use of plastic stems on the fruit, and even the grapes. Very ugly!

Modern fruit from Italy has come back to the earlier look, with wire and grape vine details, and at least some hand painting. Italians made the first stone fruit, and still do so today. Today it is also made in China. The marble or whatever stone they use is a little different from the Italian marble, and the paint is quite bright, but very realistic. You also see carved alabaster fruit from Mexico, also still made today. It is stained, not painted, and polished to be shiny.

Here is a representative group of the Mexican polished alabaster fruit.

Here is a pic of some modern Italian fruit.

Not a great picture, but look at the nice group of miniatures in the small bowl. Also notice how the dark grapes in the larger bowl brings out the yellows and reds of the other fruit, so don't forget to add a few dark pieces to your bowl.

So how to start collecting? Well, start with your goal, say put something nice in an old bowl you have. Start with the more common pieces, as they are less expensive, the apples, peaches pears, then add some dark pieces, and a few smaller scale pieces, such as strawberries or cherries or nuts, so you have the large and small of it, and there you are, done!

But if you want to do something else, consider a bowl of a single fruit, as you would have if you came home from the market. Some pretty peaches or oranges say. Look at the ones below.

I enjoy seeing the differences in individual carvers work. Here are three old oranges. Look at the peel, think how hard that would be to carve! Look at the differences in the styles of the three oranges, and the slightly different shades of orange. Also, the front one is kind of tapered, maybe it was made from a leftover bit of marble from a statue that wasn't quite right.

You could put three interesting miniatures in a little pewter dish. Or you could take one oversize piece and use it as a piece of art on a shelf or mantel. You could have a group of all one color, you could have a group of "mistakes", pieces made with mistakes. You could collect pieces with painted and carved in bruises, like real overripe fruit. I had a customer who filled a carrier with stone vegetables for the kitchen counter. You could collect just nuts, or just oversize, or just halves. Wow, just think of what you could do.

How available is the stone fruit, how do you buy it? Since it became popular again in the late 80s, its been pretty available at the larger antiques shows, in malls and at some auctions. Be careful at online auctions where you can't see and touch the pieces. Much of what you may see comes from China, and the nuts are plastic resin, not stone. Like all antiques, deal with dealers who will guarantee their pieces, and accept returns. But that said, if you've ever wanted to start a collection, don't wait long. I am seeing a big slow down in nice pieces coming to market. They are much harder to find the last year or so. I suppose like all things, popularity and good prices drove the pieces to market, and now that's slowing down, the attics of America are cleaned out. They are found more often in the south (they don't attract fruit flies!), and were brought home by many GIs, so look for them in estates collected during the 50s and 60s. Prices have been stable for the last few years, so I don't see any changes there for a while. And of course, check out my website, www.bluedogantiques.com for a great selection of early pieces at good prices.

Herding Class with Freckles

2009-12-10T09:42:00.002-05:00

Here is a pic of me and Freckles in our herding class. We are learning to herd sheep. This seems so easy, but its so hard, they tell me it takes at least 5 years to learn. Sigh! Anyhow, here is how you start, with you dog on a long lead, and you walk around the outside of the sheep in the small pen, so the dog gets the idea we want to her to go around and gather up the sheep. Some dogs do this instinctively, but Aussies are driving dogs, that is their instinct is to drive the sheep or whatever, not necessarily gather them up first. So we are walking around the sheep, and practicing our terms, go bye, (as in time goes bye)that is to my left, or clockwise, and away to me, or to my right.

And this is what we do next, when she seems interested, we let the lead go, and let her herd up the sheep. I am standing next to my teacher, Shelley Wurst, in the red cap, at her farm in West Stafford, CT, and we are holding rakes, which are used as an extension of our arm, to steer the dog. You can see she is going to my right, and I am holding the rake to the left, to block her from going that way, and steer her to my right, or away to me.

And here she is "wearing" the sheep, or driving them to me, as I back up. Walking backwards, holding the rake the correct way, keeping in back of the sheep and watching your dog is HARD! Those sheep may not bite, but they are very very solid.

Here you can just see the butt of the escaping sheep, but Freckles is on the job!

Ah, sheep are all together again.

Here we are trying to do "get away", when you want the dog to stop, or back off. The sheep are in a group in the corner, so we want her to stop driving and back off and wait for a further command. So we block her left and right, and ask her to get away. Hard to do for an eager pup!

So that's all there is to it, easy huh? Freckles is shaping up well, just great. Me, not so much, as the kids say. Anyhow, its fun, and that counts for a lot these days.

Williamsburg visit Monday afternoon

2009-12-03T17:33:00.001-05:00

Here are the pics from our afternoon at Colonial Williamsburg. Sadly, it gets dark early these days, so not too many pics turned out. Above, the market gardener is taking a break from planting fava beans.

You know, I think the gardens are my favorite part of Williamsburg.

Here are some of the Christmas decorations that were up already, but what I liked best was the "chicken ladder" up on the roof.

Here is the back of the Governor's Palace with its exquisite topiary.

Here is a view of the maze from the mount at the rear of the gardens.

Here is the view from the gardens out to the canal which runs along side.

Here is the working kitchen in the Governor's Palace. Look at the clock jack, and you should have seen the table full of food produced on their hearth.

Here is a part of the hallway with some of the hundreds of sabers and muskets the Governor had on display. The rebels certainly put them to good use after he ran out.

Here is the gilded pressed leather which is on the walls in one of the formal rooms.

Here is a small room downstairs where a gentleman can freshen up his wig's powder during the ball.

Here is one of the formal downstairs rooms at the palace, with a great delft garniture and fresh flowers, but as you can see its just too darn dark to see anymore.

We finished off the day listening to a wonderful fiddler playing for St. Andrew's day, some shopping (of course!) at the Williamsburg shops, a live Celtic group at the Barnes and Noble, and the best food around, at Paul's Deli, great Greek food, good beer, and friendly service. What a day!

2009-12-01T20:07:00.001-05:00

Williamsburg trip Monday, De Witt Wallace Museum

2009-12-01T20:01:00.001-05:00

So, after we finished our antique show, we went back to Colonial Williamsburg on Monday, and started out at the DeWitt Wallace Museum, which is quite a place. They have a tremendous exhibition space, with some of the best antiques I for one have ever seen. This delft posset pot, above, is the piece I think I'd save if the place were burning down and I happened to be standing nearby. It is over a foot tall, and just amazing. Look at the coat of arms, and the date and initials. It is thought to have been made to celebrate the owner's joining the carpenter's guild in England in 1676. Must have been quite a party that night!

Here is the japanned highboy from Boston and a tap table in walnut from VA I think I remember. I guess Boston was the center of japanning in the new world.

Here is a tall clock by the famous Tompion of London, and look at the dressing table, and the sconce. The quality of the antiques is amazing, everything is the best possible example of its kind.

On to the next exhibit, all about 18th C quilting. This is the earliest pieced quilt I've ever seen, all silks and velvets.

Another early beauty, a piece of a quilt border, again all silks.

Look at the crewel embroidery and quilting on this early stomacher, a piece a lady would wear on the front of a formal dress. I wish I could show you the white on white crewel embroidered quilt with just amazing tiny stitches, but a pocket phone can only do so much!

And now on to another exhibit, about redware, and earthen ware and other ceramics available in the Colonial days. Here is some of the most beautiful redware I have ever seen.

Look at the signed chargers, and the enormous harvest jug down below. Wow! is all I can say.

You all know by now how much I like delft. Here are three barber bowls, the one in the front is English, the one behind is Dutch, and the last is French.

Here is a bell dated 1676.

Here is a little bit of lighting for all you collectors out there. Look at the wonderful lanterns, and can you see the tin sconce up above with punched and fluted decoration?

I liked this inlaid spice cabinet from Loudon Cty., VA, late 18th C

Look at the great apothecary cabinet on legs, and the tea table from CT of course!

I'll finish the morning tour with a corner of the Tasha Tudor dollhouse kitchen. Look at the tiny dishdrainer!

Please know that this is just a tiny fraction of the hundreds of objects on display at any one time. But time flies, and its on to the Chowning Tavern for lunch, I'm starved!

Williamsburg trip Thursday

2009-12-01T19:21:00.005-05:00

Boy, did we have fun this weekend. We went down to Williamsburg, VA, and did the Holiday Antiques show, but what was really fun was our trip to Colonial Williamsburg. I guess I has forgotten how wonderful it is. Yes, if I were doing it today, I'd choose to do some things differently, but hey, its the largest living history museum in the world, and that's got to be pretty impressive! Anyhow, I'm going to show you some pics of some of my favorite bits. There is just so darn much, its hard to know where to start.

Well, here is where we started, with a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at the historic Williamsburg Inn. All the trimmings, and then some. Note to self, don't wait til dark to take pictures!

Here is one of my favorite rooms, all real antiques, and look at that set of chairs, and the crystal chandelier, and the wonderful rug on the table. Here's a hint, if you go to Williamsburg, and you should, late in the year, go early in the day, as they don't have artificial light, and well, its too dark to see much in the afternoon.

Here is Mary the wigmaker, who actually makes wigs, just a fun visit. Did you know the wigmaker would shave your head so your wig would sit properly? Ladies, you too!

Here are thelates styles in ladies wigs for the 1740s. Also, see the nice barber bowls, and wig curlers.

I liked this humble building, as the overhang looks like a good idea for keeping my firewood dry. Maybe we could add one onto the little barn this year? Hint, hint!

OK, now this is not so grand, but what a great look! If we could just add some good hinges, and a cool lock, my basement doors would look a whole lot better.

I can't rave enough about all the beautiful gardens at Williamsburg. Here is the market gardener at work, they are planting fava beans for harvest in April.

My friend Karen pointed out how cleverly they used black willow for fencing here.

This finishes up Thursday afternoon. The evening I can't show you, but we went to an absolutely sublime organ concert in the 18th C Bruton church, with just the best performance of JS Bach absolutely ringing the rafters. What a great end to a great day!

My New Kitchen

2009-10-28T11:36:00.000-04:00

Wow! Five years and finally done. I am putting up lots of pictures so you can see what we did. My goal was to have a kitchen that functioned like a fine gourmet kitchen, as I love to cook, and I have a lot of cooking toys to hide. The other thing I wanted was to have a kitchen that looked like a natural part of my 18th C house. I didn't want to see a nice looking old cupboard next to a stainless steel stove. To me that just is too jarring a contrast. So I wanted a calm look featuring old wood surfaces, original paint, antique plaster and the sunlight angling across the old surfaces. No interruptions of modern life visible. Did I succeed? You be the judge.

We added under counter lights to highlight the old pine sheathing we used for back splashes. Can you see the hidden dishwasher, or the Viking cooktop, or the professional range vent?

Here is the hidden dishwasher, next to the soapstone sink.

Here is the counter next to the sink, my favorite part of the whole kitchen. It turns chopping vegetables into a whole new experience, sort of the zen of preparation, if you will.

Here is the cupboard above the cooktop, hiding the vent a hood. But look what is also hides.

Cy built a nice spice cabinet in the shallow space in front of the Faber vent. Handy to have spices right where you use them, by the stove. Yes I know I spent way too much when I treated myself to a shopping trip to Penzeys, www.penzeys.com but what a difference fresh high quality spices make. I think some of my spices were older than my kids! Yikes! Now I can't wait to go back and fill up the shelves.

It's nice to sit at the table and watch the bird feeders in the backyard. Look to the far left, at the tall doors with H hinges. Look at what they hide.

First item on the right is the hidden refrig with radio and speakers above. Gotta have good music when you're working.

Next to that is the cupboard with my Amana convection oven, my micro, and lots of room for small electics, baking pans, etc.

And here, hidden on the side of the refrig, is a space for our new flat screen TV. Who can cook without a glimpse at the TV now and then?

Here is the under counter "dock" to the right of the sink.

Here it is open, home to all sorts of electric gadgets that normally drape themselves all over the counter.

And here is my other favorite thing, the wide plank 18th C chestnut floorboards with original mustard paints. Can you see how they warm up the cool dark brown of the cupboards?

So, how did we do? It is so rewarding to sit in this warm environment where I can eat, cook, work on my computer, watch tv listen to music, do yoga and look out the back door and watch the colored leaves fall. What could be better? Please send me your comments.

Lebanon, CT Antiques Show

2009-10-06T12:33:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of the historic Jonathan Trumball house, ( http://www.lebanontownhall.org/trumbulljuniormuseum.htm )with its wonderful tour guides, which is across the street from the antiques show. Naturally I abandoned my booth and took a tour. In walking distance of the show also is a library book sale, a bake sale, a farmer's market and several garage sales, listed of course, in my order of interest. What a great day, sunshine, cookies and new books, whoo hoo! Not to mention an abundance of old stuff for sale, old friends, dogs to pet, and lunch. What more, you ask, well, let me show you.

Here is my booth, shown first of course. Like my new old wooden sundial? Most of the rest of the items are on my website, www.bluedogantiques.com. Sales were OK for a one day show, thanks to a few customers who understood and loved early things. Thanks again!

Here is my friend Sue Wirth's booth who sets up with her daughter, Molly. What a nice family activity!

Here is a general shot of the show. Look at my neighbor's great 1930's bike. The show is set up on the town green, so is very scenic.

Like I said, a great show to pet dogs at.

Later in the afternoon, things got a little relaxed, and fun was had by all.

So, that's my post for this week, next week who knows? Any requests?

See you next week!

Dried Apples

2009-09-24T12:33:00.001-04:00

It's apple harvesting time here in Connecticut. We have these wonderful old heirloom apple trees on our farm, with these small apples, charming, but what to do with them? Usually, we leave them for the deer. But this year with a huge amount of apples, I had a brainstorm, lets dry them and use them for decorating.

This is such a beautiful time of the year here in NE, warm dry days and cool nights, and the leaves are just starting to turn, its a pleasure to be outside picking up apples.

You can see our sheltie Lucy is very attentive to possible accidental drops. Here I am cutting the apples into slices for the dehydrator.

Here is the final result. I strung the apples on linen carpet line, made them 4' long with about 3' of apples. I also dried some apples whole. It takes a lot longer, but the results are pretty great, see below.

If you'd like to buy some of these, you can go to my website, www.bluedogantiques.com

Thanks for looking, see you next week!

Sutton Antique Show

2009-09-22T19:24:00.001-04:00

Hi, I am sending you some pictures of the Sutton, MA antiques show we did last weekend. The show is a small one day show that benefits the historical society, and sets up on the picturesque town green. At the left you can see a few members of the historical society that appeared in their Colonial uniforms, just a nice addition to the scenery!

To the right is my booth, nice huh?

Here is the booth of Sue and Gary Wirth, and their daughter Molly, talking to a customer.

Here is the booth shared by the Bowl Barn Antiques and Country Plus. Lots of nice dried things for the fall season.

Can you tell what a pretty fall day it was? We had a great time, thank you all the hardworking folks at Sutton, and all the friendly customers. Next week, check us out at the Lebanon, CT antiques show, Saturday, also on the town green.

Arranging your pewter cupboard

2009-09-15T18:57:00.003-04:00

Welcome to my new blog. I want to write weekly about living with antiques, being an antiques dealer, and well, who knows? Any ideas out there?
Today I had a customer call wanting some ideas for her treen display in her open top cupboard. How to arrange? What to do? I’ve included a pic of my pewter cupboard, where I just arranged some treen I own and some from the shop stock. You can arrange cupboards many ways. One way is to look at it as an artist would look at a painting or sculpture, by putting your larger items here and there, and balancing with groups of smaller items. Don’t forget to balance your lights and darks, and your colors. It would look really silly to put all the red items on one side, no? Also silly to put all the darker items on one shelf.
But the look I like the best is when you are trying to duplicate a harassed housewife putting away her things after a very long day. Who cares what it looks like, just put the darn stuff up so the dogs don’t step on it. My best inspiration are old, what are called genre prints. As an example, I have a small black and white print that shows a Rev War housewife defending her home with a rifle. On her mantle piece is a jug, a napkin or cloth and a stack of books. Nothing symmetrical about it. As far as I know, symmetrical mantle arrangements became popular in the early 19th C. when classical design was all the rage.
So have some fun with you cupboards. Take it all out and try throwing it in. You may just get a look you’ll love! And if you are in the mood for a little shopping, check out my website, www.bluedogantiques.com

Daybreak at New England Motel Brimfield

2009-09-15T18:41:00.001-04:00

We open at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning. It's not even light out yet! Here is a pic of John Melby's booth with his candles burning. What ambiance, no?

Here is my booth in the early morning.
New England motel is the field we set up in at the fabled Brimfield antiques market, think thousands of dealers spread out over several miles on each side of the highway. I think there are about 16 different shows, some open continuously, some open on different days and close that day. Some dealers set up at several of the shows, setting up and tearing down and moving up the road and setting up again. Why do they do this? Well, its an outdoor show, and this gives you a better chance to hit a good weather day. And not all of the customers come every day. So they work a little harder, and hopefully make a bit more money. At least that's the theory.

Here is my friend Edd Oberg from Richmond House Antiques in his booth on our field a bit later. It sure helps to have some daylight!

The reason for this post is to talk about what some of us dealers are doing at the New England Motel. A group of us decided it would be fun to set up together at a field. We all have somewhat similar antiques to sell, and we can watch each others booths, and probably my customer would like Edd's antiques, and John's customer would like mine, so its good for the customers too, they can see a lot of nice early stuff all in one place. So far it seems to be working. Many customers commented favorably this September. We are adding another dealer in the spring, Cathy Constantino from Nova Scotia.

Here is my friend Rick Fuller from Vermont's booth. Does this man look awake to you? That is the only down side of all this fun, that early opening time makes for a sleepy dealer later in the day.

Here is my friend Stephanie Chiappa, from New York's booth, also in our little group. Lots of great smalls.