bakelite

As you may or may not have noticed, my Mother's obsessions sometimes have a way of becoming my own and vice versa. My newest acquisition? Bakelite fever.

There's just something about the solid, chunky, sometimes slightly translucent early plastic that makes my heart go a-patter.

Take this example- a set of 6 fat bakelite napkin rings...

so funky right?

and then there's all the forms you can find bakelite in....
such as buttons (ah, giraffe buttons!)...

animal shaped napkin rings(!), a pair of salt/pepper cellars, the handle of a syrup jug...

even toys- a bakelite toy phone, a bakelite baby toy...

and, my favorite, a bakelite lighthouse lamp. I mean, how can you say no?

tile

I caved, it was too beautiful to pass up :)

tiles oh tiles

At work we have a bit of an obsession with tiles, only the beautiful ones of course ;)

Most recently we have been surfing through ebay and by luck have found some very good finds.

The first was this Sherwin and Cotton, c1895-1900, "Village Belle", a very rare and collectable tile that was modelled by George Cartlidge in a rich cobalt blue Majolica glaze and in great condition.  It is a large tile, 6 x 12 inches.  What is very funny is that we had seen this tile before about a year ago when we went on a tile mission to a fireplace scrapyard, but the owner refused to sell it to us for any amount.

This one will have a place of honour in Chloe's new kitchen.

The original two designs

And then yesterday we had a bit of more luck.  This time there was a tile that David really wanted to win for Chloe for Christmas, and again, the ending price was a lot lower than it would sell for normally.  

Nice finds.

mine...

I caved the other day and asked my Mom for advice on buying Dansk cookware from ebay.  She advised that up to $50 for any of the large pots with lids and up to $45 for the paella-type pan would be reasonable considering that these are no longer made and collectable for undamaged ones.

So I set a few maximum bids and let them run their course (not my usual ebay strategy).

And I ended up winning the one I wanted most!

in the navy

I love the ocean and boats and sailing. I think that in another life I would definitely want to be a sailor. In September last year I went back to the States for a couple weeks between summer and fall, and I went up with my friend Robert to NYC. He has friends who have a boat and they let us stay on it overnight. We ended up sleeping on the deck off of 79th St, under the stars, with cars vrooming by. Not quite in the city, not quite out of it. It was magical.

Ebayer

Ebayer

Thinking of the ocean also reminds me of this Edgar Allen Poe poem:

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love-
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and me-
Yes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.

But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than we-
Of many far wiser than we-
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Inspiration, TheCherryBlossomGirl

ebay junkie

So I think I have to admit it now.... I am addicted.... to.... ebay.

But I am definitely not ashamed. In fact, I think it is a great way to find items that are exactly what you want and be eco-friendly at the same time. It's great to think that I can find things that I would otherwise buy from retail outlets, but that on ebay are usually cheaper and are being recycled, so I am not contributing to wasteful commercial consumption (or so I like to tell myself).

Here are some of my recent purchases:


Black Leather Fringe Bag £4.99 Ebay Seller


Tan Leather Briefcase £8.50 Ebay Seller


Vintage Green and Brown Leather Oxfords £11.54 Deja Blues Vintage

I have my eye on a few more items, so I will keep you updated on any new purchases. In the meantime, happy ebaying!