in the end, i bought it.

Visited the flea market this weekend and came across a Corningware piece called the “Casser-ette”. It was $1.00 and in it’s original box.

I stood there and looked at it. Looked at other items, came back, looked at it again. Have you ever seen that episode of MadTV when Lorraine wants to buy that box of tacks but can’t decide even though she needs them and they’re only 50 cents? That’s sort of what this was like. Except that I may not have needed this adorable little covered casserole dish in a basket. But in the end I bought it.

It’s microwaveable and toaster-oven safe. I’m always cooking things in the toaster oven. And now I won’t need a potholder to keep myself or the table from getting scorched. Nothing better!

more green??

Stopped in at a new antique mall this weekend. Technically IT is not new – I’ve just never been there before. Thanks to working at the newspaper, I read about it in a listing of flea markets/antique malls.  Weee! It’s called “Wizard of Odds” and they had lots of interesting stuff and priced rather reasonably. I found many pieces of furniture I wish i could take home. Instead I added a few more items to some already established collections.

I found this little juice glass, a Swanky Swig, for $3.oo. The vendor had many of them. I chose this one because it goes with my other animal glasses. There is another Swanky Swig that has a spinning wheel on it (part of a different series), and I’m always looking for that one, but this vendor didn’t have it.

I also found this tiny lime green Pyex dish – the lable said “individual casserole”, which just cracked me up! I imagined putting a tiny crust in it with a few vegetables and some chicken and making a mini potpie. The stamped ID is 080, 8 oz. It isn’t part of the Verde set, but I do have a brownie pan this color. Apparently it has a lid, but this didn’t come with it.

One of the most exciting finds was this green cake plate, found in the same vendor space as the Pyrex dish above. I’ve been wanting a cake plate and after not buying one for so long, my mom gave me one for Christmas. A month later I found this! The reason I got it is because it matches two relishes dishes I already have! This one was a very early housewares purchase; this smaller one I found at an outdoor flea market in the fall (75 cents). We’re having a superbowl party of sorts today, so I got out a few of my items to use. Hooray!

a year of collecting

January 13 was the day I purchased that first set of dishes from the Village. Not long after I caught the Pyrex bug and I’ve been hooked ever since. Now a year has gone by, and I can’t believe how vast my collection has grown in that amount of time. I ended up at Goodwill Sunday afternoon and found another lovely, though lonely, leafy patterned saucer. Remember this one? I went nuts trying to find more, but not much as surfaced. After a google search, I can’t say more about the new pattern either. The back says “Mikasa Cera-stone Verde”, which is amusing because my Pyrex set is called Verde too! I’ll just add it to my leaves collection.

Also, I picked up this set of 5 gold-toned glass dessert/fruit dishes. I’d been scoping them out over the course of several trips and decided to go for it this time. Originally 50 cents each, I had a 40% off coupon and I don’t even remember what they ended up costing.

I’m sure you fiber enthusiasts haven’t forgotten that I mentioned my two substantial dyeing days. Today I had an afternoon of indirect sunlight and took photos of all the combed top and yarn. I was really disappointed with my last order from R.H. Lindsay. I ordered 5 lbs Romney and 5 lbs Falklands, but I’m quite sure they sent me Merino instead of Falklands. After spinning some I’m sure of it. We’ll see how that works out.

cheers for unemployment

Being unemployed + sunny day = Thursday morning flea markets! I popped over to a PA flea market this morning, one I had been wanting to go to for a few weeks, and spent some time browsing and enjoying the weather. I found several happy little items including two Pyrex 501 refrigerator dishes. Also picked up two lids for my Bake Serve & Store set; a small divided dish that matches my other green relish tray; and an awesome box of buttons.

The refrigerator dishes are in a pattern I don’t usually buy, Crazy Daisy I believe, but they were $2.00. Plus, they can go along with Verde quite easily. I may be inclined to trade them in the future.

This small dish was only 75 cents. It matches a relish tray I bought back in January, one of my very early pieces. After going to the flea market, I stopped at an antique mall. One of the vendors was selling this exact thing for $7.50!  And she had the matching relish tray for $8. I know I didn’t pay that much.

I found this box of buttons where I bought the 501s. When I saw the $6.00 price tag I knew I had to buy it. The previous owner and I must be kindred spirits. She organized them all by color! How fantastic is that. I finally have a good assortment of buttons in a variety of colors rather than just having a very large collection of brown and white.

it’s all green to me

Can you believe all the green that’s coming out on the trees! After such a wacky winter, it makes me feel so alive! But, as you know, regardless of leaves, I have a desperate love of green – the color, that is. And, as is evident from all the rest of my housewares, I tend to collect it.

This green glass dish I found for $1.00 at an incredibly scurvy flea market today. Even the bag he gave me was filthy. Beggars can’t be choosers. It didn’t come with its lid, but I thought it’d be fun for putting things in none the less.

And some green fiber to round things out. It started out as white Romney locks that I dyed with Koolaid in the crockpot. Love the smell!! Before spinning I teased out the ends and then just went for it. I left it on the bobbin for a long time before skeining. I haven’t named it yet, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

big news!

Attention friends and neighbors! My yarn is now available for purchase via Etsy. You can check out my whole 3 listings at granolasuit.etsy.com. Hoobah! I’m sure there are things that need adjusted or improved, but I’ll figure it out over time. The real question is: will anyone want it?

Other things to report… Here is my first skein of Falklands yarn. I like it better than the South African Fine. It’s not as smooth and more interesting to spin. I tried to get more out of my ounces, but this skein is only 76 yards and 3 ounces. Why can’t I get more??

A Seagull’s View

As for thrifting, I found these four juice glasses today at the flea market. They were $4.00. I suppose I ought to have filled the glasses since it’s difficult to see the images. Cute, eh?

Here’s a peak of my new set of dishes. The pattern is called Echo. It was a 35 piece set for $9. I kept grasping at justifications for buying it.. because what do I need another set of dishes for? Now I have every day dishes and ‘fine china’.

I’ll leave you with a photo of Phoebe, who we haven’t seen in quite some time. She had a haircut due to some crazy matting of hair. It was a bit scary looking for a while, but it’s calmed down. I couldn’t resist her cute little face!

by the way, my favorite color is green.

Apparently some nesting (or something similar) tendency has awakened in me… I can’t stop buying housewares! Eventually I’ll need them anyway, so I suppose it’s better to collect them a little at a time rather than having to shell out oodles of money all at once. Especially if I see things I like now, why not put them away for later? Later will be here sooner than I realize.

Saturday Cosy and Ben came for a little visit. We took them around to some of our favorite thrifting spots. First was Star Supply, which I won’t even try to explain. Then we went to the Village – Ohio’s Best Thrift Store. It used to be a JCPenney, so it’s big. While there, I found a little sugar and creamer with dish, a relish tray, and a nice grey sweater from the now long-gone Petite Sophisticate (because small people don’t need clothes). I also got a crockpot for dyeing but the jury is still out on whether it is functional. Richard is taking it to work to see if he can re-solder the shorted out bits.

Our next stop was the Goodwill. They have a great selection of housewares, but they ask a lot more money than the Village. Cosy and I seem to have very similar taste. It’s convenient when one finds something that doesn’t fit, it’s likely the other likes it too and will wear it, which was the case with a fantastic green cabled cardigan – it had bobble buttons. I washed it this afternoon. There were four green Pyrex dishes there, so we each took two home. And then today at the Flea Market, I found two mixing bowls, also green Pyrex, to add to my collection ($6). Additionally, I found three mugs similar in style to the lone mug, all for $1.

I’m putting all of the pieces together in one tote and calling it my “hope chest”. As in I HOPE I can get a job and move out this fall. I HOPE this semester doesn’t kill me. I HOPE I don’t crack and come crawling back to my parents’ house. I’ll keep you posted.