Farewell Cheshire Cat

 Good morning. Tina here.

Last Friday we lost our beautiful orange tabby, Cheshire Cat, fondly known as Chessie.

He was almost fifteen years old.

He was a loving, gentle, playful soul, who was fond of cuddling on my lap, and giving me "kisses" on my arm.

I have a unique way of calling each of my cats, their own "homing song", and it started with Chessie:

"Cheshire Cat, Cheshire Cat, Where ya at, where ya at? Chesa-peek-a-boo, where are you? Come on you!"

He had many nicknames: Monsieur S'pooplebutts (because of his unfortunate accident on the way to our home as a kitten), Chesapeake-a-boo (Chesapeake is a train name, Chessie for short, just like my kitty - and their symbol is a little kitten napping), Spunkers (? who knows why), Cuddle-bug (because he was one)... And pretty much anything that came out of my mouth while I was enjoying petting him.

Chessie did not like snow.  He liked to drink water at night from my cup on the windowsill above the headboard of the bed, and would jump up on my head to get there. He got along with the other cats and our dog, mainly by leaving them alone. He liked numbles (numb-uls) which was canned cat food. He was a beggar when it came to food. He loved cheese and was always underfoot when I was grating it (which I seem to do a lot! - I like cheese too). 

We live way out in the country, and he was an indoor-outdoor cat. But he was always in at night. He liked hunt and explore the yard, but never went to far afield. When I worked he would be outside all day, and being a "redhead" his ears would get sunburned and crisp on the edges. I took to rubbing sunblock on them in the mornings and that helped.

Chessie was mostly my cat, but sometimes would jump on hubby's lap and cuddle too. It has only been a few days, but it already seems odd not to have him following me around wherever I am in the house, bathroom included. Somehow I keep expecting to see him just around the corner.

When he was younger he would hide when we had company, it has only been in the last few years that visitors would see him. He also grew very vocal in his older years, letting us know he was hungry or when something bothered him.

The past six months he grew very thin, always wanting to eat, and still losing weight week after week. I knew he was not going to last long. But I don't want to dwell on that, and took no pictures of his decline. I am going to remember him as he was most of his life, the orange and cream fur, soft striped tail (I loved to hold his tail while he sat on my lap) beautiful orange eyes, my Wonderland kitty, Cheshire Cat.

http://goldcountrygirls.blogspot.com/2009/10/cheshire-cat.html

http://goldcountrygirls.blogspot.com/2013/09/portrait-of-cheshire-cat.html

http://goldcountrygirls.blogspot.com/2014/07/as-kitty-grows-older-few-words-about.html

Above are a few of the posts I have written about Chessie.

Now, whenever I look up at the night sky, and see the waxing crescent moon, which for most of my life I've called the Cheshire Cat Moon, I will know that my Chessie is smiling, looking down on me from his tree branch in the heavens.

Farewell, Cheshire Cat.

What's Penny Wearing? #135 It's Bright, It's Blue - And It's "Suitable" For Business....

Today, Penny is modeling a bright blue vintage suit I found at a thrift store.
It has very pretty detailing on the lapels:

I suppose this smart-looking suit may be a bit out-dated, style-wise, but a tailor could easily make some alterations and give this a fabulous, updated look.
Take out the shoulder pads, shorten the skirt and  the jacket, perhaps?

 Or leave it alone - it does have a classic look to it.
I just thought the color was SO lovely, I couldn't pass it up.
It doesn't look like it was ever even worn.

Nice tailored details:

I also found this colorful, brightly striped Izod Brand shirt (new, with tags) at a thrift store:

You could wear any number of different styles and colors of shirts and tops beneath this suit, but I thought this combo of the blue with the stripes looked cool, so I paired them together for Penny to model today.

See - brand new, with extra buttons, even:

Of course, it would look equally nice with a solid-color shirt or blouse with a lace collar, or even a simple ruffle at the neckline..

So anyway - that's our springtime look for today, as bright as a "Pretty Penny"!

My Easter Decorations

Sending Happy Easter wishes out there to all of you in Blogland!
Just sharing a few pictures of some of my Easter decorations, beginning with the photo below which shows my treasured vintage papier mache egg-shaped boxes.
The orange bunny on the left has been mine since childhood; an Easter surprise that held candy on that long-ago Easter morning. The similar one on the right was an eBay find - surely you can understand why I "had" to have it!

Assorted little treasures line a little shelf, my favorite of which is still the orange card with the bunny up at the top right, which my sister Lori gave me probably in the 1970's:

And something in every cubbyhole, here:

Atop the next shelf are two of my framed vintage Easter items (both of which have been shown on this blog in earlier posts):

I have only three of these special little wooden egg cups.
I like to think the little gal in the middle is having trouble deciding between her two suitors........

Close-up on the cubbies:

And another shot:

Easter baskets and chicks and such in the foyer:

Nests and bunnies under glass on the table:

And one more close-up, because this framed illustration from a vintage Raggedy Ann book ( which I did not tear apart, by the way) is one of my favorite things:

May all of you be as delighted on this Easter day as the little girl appears to be with her huge bowl of Easter eggs!

Easter Finds

I have managed to find some sweet Easter items over the last few months.
I'll start with this dear little bunny:

I found the glass rabbit on the left and the vintage glass Easter Bunny candy container at the same shop. I have a reproduction candy container, but this one is vintage - it's heavier and is marked J.H. Millstein Co., Jeanette, PA. on the bottom:

I love the design on my antique postcard, and the candle holder may not really be an Easter decoration, but they sure do look pretty together:

A vintage paper bowl made in Western Germany for Hallmark:

A couple cute die-cut decorations - spring lamb with a pretty Easter bonnet:

And a rather dapper duck sporting a cool bow tie:

And a vintage paper egg box, which had the blue egg inside when I found it:

I love these old eggs; I passed up a couple of them the other day and now I'm sorry.
I kind of want to go back and see if they're still there!

This last one isn't an Easter thing either, but since they're cute rabbits, I decided to throw in this vintage hot iron transfer package.
Although - the "Sunday" one appears to have an Easter basket, doesn't he/she?
 Oh - and the "Friday" one! I think that, rather than cleaning (washing dishes?), that rabbit actually found that gorgeous teapot at an estate sale or a thrift shop!
Yes, I believe so. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

See now - those rabbits look as though they keep up very well with all of their chores.
Hmm ...  I get it....  so, if you DO that, then you may not even have the need NEED to do any "spring cleaning"
Wow - what a concept!

A Few More Vintage Crewelwork Pieces

I have found and/or framed a few more crewelwork pieces recently.
This is a brightened-up photo of a portion of this big, beautiful crewel piece I found at one of my local thrift stores:

You can't really tell the size in the next photo - it's about 18 by 32 inches - a nice large one, and very nicely framed:

I also "framed" three more vintage crewel pieces recently - all were thrift shop finds from quite some time ago - I had stashed them away and I had forgotten all about them.
I think I intended to sell them originally, but I looked at them in a new light once I rediscovered them.
I decided to see if I had embroidery hoops into which they would fit.

I did!
Each one of these is 12 inches or more in diameter.
The one above was the easiest of the bunch, and I love the way it turned out.
This one looks pretty decent, also:

 The last one, below was harder to pull tight because of the bulk of the sunflowers.

I would have put it in a larger hoop, but there was a little stain that I needed to hide, even though I really didn't like covering up part of the flowers.
I was able to get it a little bit tighter, after I took this photo.
I added all three to my "Wall Of Crewel" in the guest room, and I like them a lot.
How can one tire of looking at bright and pretty flowers every day?
I just love all the color.

Easter Wishes from 1916 - A Hundred Years of Chicks and Bunnies!

Good morning, Tina here.

Today I am sharing postcards which were sent in 1916 as Easter greetings.

A lot of the same themes show up in the art on these cards. Daffodils are popular, as the harbringers of spring.

A floral cross with forget-me-nots and another daffodil.

Angelic faces!

More daffodils. Although Easter falls rather early this year, our spring was earlier, and we will have few daffodils left blooming by this Sunday.

Chicks. Definitely a sight of spring.

We have no clematis here in Kelsey, not for lack of trying, they just don't seem to like our soil or climate.

I am not sure what flowers these are supposed to be, I am guessing primroses?

Can't forget the Easter bonnet! It really is a shame that bonnets have gone out of style. What a great way for a lady to make a fashion statement!

The joy of receiving a package in the mail, obviously her Easter bonnet. Her bunny just happens to be snacking on a bit of green.

Easter eggs, crocus and Easter lilies. I love this illustration!

Chicks offer violets, daffodils, and lilies to our bonneted lass.

Wishing a joyful Easter to you all!