Flora Danica

 I went to an estate sale last week with my partner in crime for the sole purpose of taking photos for you guys...

but I couldn't resist leaving without this wonderful wooden crate.
 

 I thought the words "Flora Danica" rang a bell.

I recalled something about a very expensive china pattern rendered with botanical flowers.

I've seen a lot of great wooden crates but nothing like this one before and with a price tag of one dollar it was impossible to leave behind!

I cleaned it up and placed inside it a couple of orchids I recently purchased at Trader Joe's and...

 

Voila!

A great start to a fabulous arrangement if I may say so myself! 

I think some moss and a whimsical touch or two and I'll have myself a lovely Spring  arrangement.

That was easy!


I'm linking up with Savvy City Farmer's
Thriftin on a Thursday

 

Smitten with Shells

VINTAGE SHELLCRAFT

Every once in a while I'll come across these shell arrangements mounted on cloth and framed.

This particular one has a label on the back.

NIEVA'S SHELLCRAFT

637 DAMASO SUAZO STREET

DAVAO CITY, PHILLIPPINES

 

Phillipine Shell in Natural Color

Hand Made

Background - Cotton Cloth

Shells are by far my favorite treasures and I just love this piece of shell art!

 

A Penny for your Thoughts

Several years ago I found myself digging through a glass front bookcase in an old junk shop that had been closed up for many years.

I remembered the funky old junk shop from my youth and had always wondered why it was still there with the shades drawn, seemingly abandoned and locked up tight.

And then one day while visiting the shop across the street I noticed that the door was open and there was someone inside!

I promptly left the shop I was in, crossed the street and eagerly entered the old junk shop that suddenly showed signs of life!

To my surprise there was a gentleman there who was selling the contents of the shop.

He informed me that he had come from Montana to help liquidate "the treasures" in his aunt's shop to get it ready to rent out.

She was very old and frail and not long for this world.

I imagine she got too old to run the shop but couldn't bear to part with her treasures and so she  locked the door all those years ago leaving everything exactly as it was.

I felt an immediate bond with her nephew and visited the shop several times over the next month as he would continually find and price more of her "treasures."

One particular day, my husband and I were in the neighborhood walking our friend's dog and I noticed he was open.

This time he had several boxes, tables and bookcases full of books.

As I began to peruse the selections, another woman came into the shop and joined me.

I guess you could call it providence, but I reached in and pulled out this curious old tome.

I gasped upon opening it realizing that it was no ordinary book.

I asked, "how much for the book?" 
 He replied ten dollars.

All of a sudden the woman tried to grab it from me saying that she wanted to buy it.  I looked at her bemused telling her it wasn't for sale.  She wildly went over to my husband saying that she would pay me $100 for it and that he should make me take it!

My husband and I looked at each other feeling badly for the gentleman who had just sold it to me.

It was more than awkward to say the least.

So, about the book...


Has anyone ever seen anything like this before?
It's pretty incredible. I get nervous just opening it, it's so old and fragile.

It appears to me to have been written over several generations by members of the same family.

It's sprinkled with poems and 4 leaf clovers.

And it's definitely from this area.

I've yet to show it to anyone, but I'm thinking of taking several pieces of art to Bonhams and Butterfield in San Francisco in the next few weeks and was thinking that I should bring this along with me.

In the meantime, I thought maybe one of you might be knowledgeable about this sort of thing and could enlighten me or give me some advice.

This curious little book/diary is most certainly an incredible treasure!

It's Oscar Time!

I'm tuned into E Entertainment Network watching the Red Carpet and thought I'd post my picks before the show starts.

BEST PICTURE

The Artist

 BEST ACTOR

George Clooney

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Christopher Plummer

 ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Octavia Spencer

BEST DIRECTOR

Martin Scorcese

BEST MUSICAL SCORE

Hugo

 What I'm really looking forward to though is spending the evening with Billy Crystal.

He's the BEST Oscar Host Ever!

Go Billy!

40 Days

Fast from judging others;  and feast on Christ dwelling within them.

Fast from emphasis on differences;  and feast on the unity of all life.

Fast from apparent darkness;  and feast on the reality of light.

Fast from words that pollute;  and feast on phrases that purify.

Fast from discontent;  and feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger;  and feast on patience.

Fast from pessimism;  and feast on optimism.

Fast from worry;  and feast on trust.

Fast from complaining;  and feast on appreciation.

Fast from negatives;  and feast on affirmatives.

Fast from unrelenting pressures;  and feast on unceasing prayer.

Fast from hostility;  and feast on nonviolence.

Fast from bitterness;  and feast on forgiveness.

Fast from self-concern;  and feast on compassion for others.

Fast from personal anxiety;  and feast on eternal Truth.

Fast from discouragement;  and feast on hope.

Fast from facts that depress;  and feast on truths that uplift.

Fast from lethargy;  and feast on enthusiasm.

Fast from suspicion;  and feast on truth.

Fast from thoughts that weaken;  and feast on promises that inspire.

Fast from idle gossip;  and feast on purposeful silence. 

Are you giving anything up for Lent?

Thank You!

With my 1st Prop Shop Sale behind me...

my heart is overflowing with gratitude!

The past weekend was really quite extraordinary, with the actual selling of my treasures being just the icing on the cake.

I can't tell you what a thrill it was to have someone walk up to me and announce, "I love your blog" and then proceed to prove it by recounting things they knew about me from reading La Dolfina.

But it was I who scored the most treasures of all!

I was blessed to be able to spend a bit of quality one on one time with pretty much everyone who came to shop the prop.  I was far more excited to meet them then they were to meet me!

  Most of the women who came were readers, not bloggers, which meant I never really knew they existed before they emailed me for an invite to my sale.

 As they arrived I would greet each one asking them who they were.  It was so fun because they were sort of forced out of the closet so to speak. It was an amazing gift to have the opportunity to look each other in the eye and physically complete  our connection!

 

Where do you live? What do you do? 

Do you really like my blog?

 

Those of us who blog know what it feels like to have someone read, follow, or comment on our blogs.  

I think most of us realize what an honor and opportunity it is to write a blog and connect with other bloggers but to have "someone" out there who looks forward to regularly reading your posts and sharing in a slice of your life is more than surreal.

And then to meet them in person, well... that just brings it all full circle in the best possible way!

I want to thank those of you again who took the time to come to my sale, meet me and my mom, and celebrate the passion we all share for treasures.

I also want to thank Sandy Bryan and her daughter Faith for coming all the way from Roseville to help me with the sale. I couldn't have done it without them.

 

I don't know about you but I had the time of my life! I'm just now coming down off my high and can't wait to do it again!

 

And for those of you who were with me in spirit... I felt you!


THANK YOU!