Running Late

It rained over the weekend, yet though the pickings were slim, they were pretty good.

These were from two places - a thrift shop I go into all the time but rarely buy jewelry in (they look closely, price to 40% of retail instead of weight) and a rummage sale I hadn't planned to go to but for the rain washing out most of the neighborhood yard sales.  The earrings slipped through the cracks; so vigilant is the crew in that store I doubted the "14K" marks when I first saw them, but I grabbed the things before anyone could look again and change the prices.  At the church sale on Saturday, the locket was at the fringes of the jewelry table, which is where I was because I hadn't been first in line.  While the feeding frenzy focused on the boxed stuff in the middle, I caught sight of this beauty hanging on a rack with all the "other" costume stuff.  Truthfully, I just saw the chain; the locket was so orange (and most sellers are so aware) that I thought it was costume, too, but that they'd simply missed the chain (which I could tell by feel was almost certainly gold).  Since I've made it a habit not to check with my loupe unless it's priced higher (and I have to make sure it's worth it) or once I'm simply home with my loot (so I don't jinx the rest of the hunt) I didn't even look at the heart until much later.  It's not costume (and that's not glass in the middle).  I'm so glad I got the message (last week) not to ignore small things, and definitely not to snivel about being relegated to the edge of the fray!

And, yes, I bought things that didn't pan out.  But I re-looked at last week's blog and decided to focus on the very cool instead of the overall.  Shorter blogs.  Better pictures.  I do plan to confess the incredibly stupid buys I've made, however, so stay tuned.

This weekend was all about milk glass, anyway.

The bowl in the back is Panelled Grape from Westmoreland, a huge and shallow bowl I've never even seen outside books.  I have about 200 pieces of this, so it's a great addition.  The eagle is a pretty good buy, too - "The American Hen."  Not uncommon, but this particular one has a few interesting distinctions I'm going to research.  The rest are, to some degree, unknown at this moment, but I didn't spend much on any of it (and that cat was $1!).

Oh, and I finally spent my birthday money.

Yes, it was a splurge.  I probably spent what they're worth, in fact, judging by eBay.  But I don't care.  In the absence of Tiffany Chrysanthemum, I'll take Gorham Repousse any day.  Two of these have 1894 & 1895 marks.  The other two have what I think is 1950's marks but I found an auction site that said they, too, were turn of the century.  The research continues.

These, too.

One is Unger Brothers (but really, really beat up and falling apart ... which I didn't notice when I bought it).  The other is W. B. Braitsch & Co.  Both are late 19th century.  Thrift shops are cool, aren't they?

I'm going to the movies this morning with my son, who flew in from Alaska over the weekend.  The weather report now says this Saturday will be clear and sunny.  I can't wait!

Happy Hunting!