If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times....

Never pass by a church rummage! Here's my loot!

Vintage flower basket, English candy tin, giant Pennsylvania Dutch tray, Delft pottery, 1920's Hymnals (Including Gospel Hymn Selections for Female Voices)(!), sweet divided dish with floral aluminium lid, turtle bank circa 1970

2 shoe boxes full of molds of various shapes, Queen Mary dish, doily (note: I am usually not a doily girl, but loved the red and blues of this one), and a vintage pink jewelry box. Look what was inside:

See the fab shoe box? I gave that to my friend Magpie Ethel. She loves silhouettes of kids and the color orange. That's what I call a double delight!

Letters from famous people - Part 3

Okay, it wasn't a letter...but something even better. A bit scandalous even. A famous person tried to pick me up once. I was living in New York. The year was 1989 or thereabouts. One crisp Fall afternoon, I was waiting for a downtown bus on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

You know how sometimes you can feel that someone is watching you? It was like that. I turned to look and caught the gaze of a man walking towards the bus stop. He smiled at me, slowed down, and said, "Don't I know you?" Just then I twigged. It was...

Carl Bernstein!

I said "I don't think so." and started to scrounge around in my bag like I suddenly realized I needed some chapstick. Then it hit me: This is the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who helped bring down an American president, and the best line he has is: "Don't I know you?"

Still, my research shows that over the years, he dated Liz Taylor, Bianca Jagger , Martha Stewart and was once married to Nora Ephron, who ~ by the way ~ is a genius. (You can read her blog on Huffington Post.) Just goes to show you, One Gal's Trash is in very good company. Come to think of it, I should have jumped all over him...I certainly would have had a book deal by now!

Recycled Garden Tools

I found these two creatures at an estate sale over the weekend. The guy running the sale told me that his dad made them out of garden tools about 40 years ago. They are quirky and charming and are already at home in our backyard. They have faces only a junk mother could love.


Oh! I almost forgot...$5 for the pair!

Hazel's First Birthday

We celebrated Hazel's birthday with a party at the dog park.

Emma handed out doggie treat bags to all the pups who showed up.

Charlie brought toys.

Roscoe was there...

and Chloe...

and Baron...

Stretch and the birthday girl had a little tumble.

Hazel stole a ball, because on your birthday, you get to do that sort of thing.

She had a wonderful time!

Letters from famous people - Part 2

When Prince William was born in 1982,

I decided to send a little something to the future King of the British Empire to mark the occasion. So I drove over (this was way before ordering at Disney.com) to the gift store at Disneyland, and bought a toddler sized one of these in powder blue and sent it across the pond.

Well, guess what came in the mail 3 months later! A letter of thanks on embossed paper with the seal of Buckingham Palace, signed by Hazel West, Princess Diana's lady in waiting.

~Double click on the letter for a better view~

Short, sweet, and to the point. I was a little disappointed that it didn't specifically mention the sweatshirt. For the next few years, I pored over every issue of People Magazine looking for pictures of William. I never saw him wear it. Not even once.

P.S. Just for kicks and giggles, I googled Hazel West and found this at Yvonne's Royalty Home Page (!):

Diana, Princess of Wales' Ladies-in-Waiting:

N.B.: The ladies-in-waiting are listed in alphabetical order by surname.

Mrs. George Alston-Roberts-West (née Hazel Elizabeth Margaret Cook)
Born: 23 May 1944
Parents: Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Thomas Cook and Gweneth Margaret Jones
Spouse: Lieutenant-Colonel George Arthur West (great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Westminster)
Notes:
• Extra Lady-in-Waiting from 1981.*

* Buckingham Palace announced her appointment on 25 September 1981. It was published in The London Gazette of 6 October 1981.

I would so love it if Hazel read this post and sent me a message!

Let the Billy Chips fall where they may...An Update

Remember this guy?

I posted about him here. Well, out of the blue, I received an email from a gal named Marilyn. Here's what it said:

Googling for fun - Williams Potato Chips....there you were talking about my family's company. The Billy that you are in love with is my brother who was featured in the ads in about 1950. The original bags actually had a photograph of him rather than a drawing. Thought you might like to see a couple more memorable pictures.

Then it got even better...Billy sent me a recent photo and a message! He wrote:

Thought you might be interested to see what the ravages of time and Jack Daniels can do.

So, if ingesting massive amounts of potato chips leads to owning a sweet motor boat and looking exactly like Sean Connery, I say...Go ahead, eat the chips!

A cartload of fun and family dysfunction!

While driving yesterday afternoon, I saw a sign for a yard sale and instinctively started to slow down. Emma was with me and she saw the sign too. "Please Mom, no! Anything but a yard sale!" My response: "I promise, I'll only stay 5 minutes." Here's what I grabbed: The white chippy flower cart, of course,

Handknit bunnies and tiny vintage Easter chicks (who will join the rest of the collection on our mantel next spring),

Handknit chickens and a shell night light for the hut,

A bunch of resin flowers (for repurposing),

Gurley candles for Easter (the one on the left combines the religious with the pagan ~ a cross, an angel and a bunny ~ in a really tasteful way, dontcha think?),

and more vintage gems: The Santa and the pink umbrella dogs are old celluloid. I've never seen the Gurley church candle before. These will all be in my Etsy shop at Christmas.

Star reflectors for Christmas lights (also for repurposing),

and a church made out of wood by the (now adult) brother of the gal running the sale. As I added it to my pile of purchases, she says to me, "Make sure Craig doesn't see you taking this out of the party room!" Apparently, Craig ~ who at the time was slurping his Big Gulp in the garage ~ made the church when he was a kid and will be furious when he realizes that his sister put a 25 cent price tag on it. I'm all like, "Oh no, I am not going to be the cause of a family feud on NE Shaver Street!" But then, I couldn't help it. I had to know. "You actually called it 'the party room'? I wish I grew up in a house like this!" Sadly, she didn't have much of a sense of humor.

Anywho, I was very careful to not make eye contact with Craig. He must have given her the stinkeye, because while I was busy maniacally looking for more stuff, I heard her snap at him, "I'm selling it for a quarter; no one else wants it!" So, if you ever run into Craig, tell him his church will be on our mantel, every Christmas, until doomsday.

He even decorated the cut out windows with Christmas cards!

And finally, a pig cutting board that I can actually use. It was also a quarter.

Not bad for 5 minutes! What's the fastest time you have ever clocked at a sale?

Please don't make me eat this

Imagine my delight when I saw these cans on the shelf at our grocery store in Portland, Oregon. Spotted Dick is a sort of British bread-pudding-with-currents thing. But in a can? And the name? I don't think so.

On second thought, I think I'll bring a couple of cans to my friend's upcoming 40th birthday knitting party and see how it goes over with the ladies. I'll keep you posted.

We have a winner!

Here are the giveaway goodies to mark my 200th post:

Found these gorgeous tiles at a recent estate sale. Got 14 comments...

Put 14 tiles in a hat....

Emma was my lovely assistant....

Look who won....Lisa was comment #14....Thanks to all for playing along!

Lisa ~ Please email or leave a comment so I can contact you!

Let them eat...a cookie!

Bonne Fete Nationale! It's Bastille Day in France, the (sort of) equivalent to our 4th of July. My friend Beth brought me this cookie. I wish I was in a Paris bistro right now, dunking it into a cafe creme. Merci, Beth!

Here is what the E.T. will look like tonight. Those Frenchies sure know how to party!

Let there be water!

Remember my post about the abandoned house with the dead "landscaping"? Well, last Friday it was hot here in the city of roses. Very hot. I've been tossing and turning about whether I should take the plants, but in the meantime, I decided to bring them all a cool beverage. Emma helped me roll a garbage can full of water down the street and we used a bucket for scooping.



Emma ran back to the house for the watering can (do you still call it a "can" when it's made of plastic?)...


Her friend Fia helped too....

When we were finishing up, I saw the neighbors who live to the north. I asked if they knew what was going on with the house. The husband said that no one has done any work on it in over a year. That the cops came last winter when the frozen pipes burst and turned the water off. That it used to belong to a Portland Trail Blazer, he put it on the market when he got traded to Atlanta, couldn't sell it, and donated it to the Boys & Girls Club as a tax writeoff. When I mumbled something about wanting the plants, the wife sneered at me and said "You can't take them, they belong to someone!" I wanted to holler..."The house is uninhabitable, it's a safety hazard, windows are kicked in, there's graffiti and and clearly no one cares!" But I just mumbled a little more and skulked away. And to think, I was this close to digging up those plants and bringing them home...Woe is me!

P.S. Scroll down for info on a fab giveaway from One Gal's Trash

A festive and junky giveaway

Hey! I got so caught up in the whole plant stealing caper (more on that later) and Peter Jennings that I didn't twig that I have reached a milestone....my 200th post! Here is a pile of One Gal's Trash for a celebratory giveaway.

Here's what I'm throwing in: ~ all vintage ~ chicken recipe cards, a tiny Irmi style 'Mary had a little lamb' plaque, 2 rolls of ribbon, a deck of flowery playing cards, hot pink enamel brooch, 8 wooden dice with letters, 6 jello molds, a fruitti tutti hair clip (made with vintage button and trim by yours truly), and a copy of The Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous Eating Places.

Please leave a comment. I would love to know your favorite motto or mantra. My current favorites are: "Toning it down is totally overrated." & (referring to myself of course)...."She was sometimes a headache, but never a bore." On Wednesday, I'll do the whole names in a hat thing. Don't even ask me about that Random.com device. I would rather set my hair on fire than try to figure out how to set that thing up.

By the way, blogging is the most fabulous time suck in the whole world. Thanks to all of you for coming along for the ride!
xo
Pam

Letters from famous people - Part 1

One night, years ago, in a 3rd floor walkup in New York City, my friend Janet and I were on the couch watching World News Tonight. An Entenmann's chocolate fudge cake (still in the box) between us and each armed with a plastic fork, we were ready to catch up on the day's news.

Janet nonchalantly throws out this one: "Do you think Peter Jennings is attractive?" Attractive? I practically fell off the couch while shouting YES! YES! YES! I'd had a crush on him for years. He had travelled the world, knew absolutely everything and was a snappy dresser. And the voice. Please.

Anyway, we decided to send a fan postcard to Mr. Network News Hottie.
We wrote:
Dear Pete,
We think you should present the news naked from the waist up.
Love, Pam and Janet
P.S. We also think you are really smart.

Off it went to ABC News. I swear, in about a day, we received a large envelope in the mail. Inside was a signed 8 x 10 glossy of Pete ~ shirtsleeves and necktie askew! (Janet currently has possesion of the photo ~ we share custody.)
He wrote:
Dear Pam and Janet,
You girls sound nuts, and GREAT.
Love, Pete

Years later, when I was working at ABC, I saw our postcard pinned on the bulletin board outside Pete's office. But that's another story.

Next installment: my letter from British Royalty. Really.

My Bologna has a first name....

Who knew that Oscar Mayer was a real person? A person who apparently did not have his picture take since 1965.

Mr. Mayer died in Wisconsin this week at the age of 95.
Rest in peace Mr. Hot Dog.

P.S. If you want to hear the whole song, you can watch it here.

A moral dilemna Part 2

Here's the next chapter in the dead plants story. I found the name of the owner of the house by checking on Portland Maps.com. But the only address listed for the owner is the address of the emptly house. It's close enough to us that I can assure you, no one is there, ever. So I'm not sure dropping off or mailing a note will do any good. A friend told me that she saw it listed as a foreclosure....not sure where...so I will dig some more to see where the mystery leads.
By the way, your responses were 3 to 1 in favor of me rescuing/liberating/stealing/adopting the plants and trees. Stay tuned girls!

A moral dilemna

Okay, so there is this house in our neighborhood that has been an eyesore for years. Recently, someone bought it to flip it, but then the economy tanked and all renovation work halted faster than you can say "Stimulus Package". The house is empty. M.T. Abandoned. In foreclosure.

Here's my quandary: I want the plants. Several months ago, someone made a half-hearted attempt to landscape, but it's just pathetic really. However, some of the plants were amazing this spring and now look at them!
Delphinuium...sad.

Lupine...very sad.

Japanese maple...so very sad.

And look! Another maple being crushed by a cheap Walmart trellis that toppled over...Extra sad.

My husband says I can't take them because it would be like stealing. I say it's more like adopting. In my care, they will be appreciated and nurtured. Left to their own devices, they will surely fade away. I asked my kids about it:

Me: "Hey guys, see those plants at that ABANDONED house? Do you think it would be wrong to take some of them?"
Kids (in unison): "Yes, Mom, that would be wrong. They don't belong to us."

So I thought: At least I raised my children right. It doesn't mean I won't be taking the plants; it just means I have instilled in them a sense of right and wrong.

What do you think? Please advise, dear readers!

Old Glory

It's Thursday, which means it's time for Vintage Thingies Thursday at Colorado Lady.
Suzanne of VTT created this flag from her stash of vintage buttons...Glory-ous!
My recent fab finds are featured on my previous post...just scroll on down, girls!

If you don't ask, you'll never know

So I went back to the sale where I got this stuff to see if they brought out any more goodies. Uh, yeah. As I was checking out, I asked my new best friend Diana if she had any old wrapping paper. "Yeeesss..." she responds, not really understanding what particular form of insanity would prompt such a question. Down she takes me, into the basement, to the gift wrapping room. I'm like, who the hell are you, Candy Spelling?
Anywho, here's what I got:

Large stack of fab paper...mostly baby and kid genre.

Vintage stickers. Stacks of them.

Old velvet ribbon (black!) and a little plastic prison....

incarcerating these:

I love Diana. So then I ask: "Do you have any old greeting cards from the same era, I don't even care if they are signed..." She says: "Oh, I threw all those away." I hate Diana.