English Royalty Thimble Year Of 3 Kings

This is the coolest British Royal memorabilia thimble that I just acquired with a collection of royalty thimbles on our last English buying trip.

Made in 1986-1987, the bone china thimble by Fisbury commemorates a special year in English royal history. Between June of 1036 and June of 1937, there were 3 men annointed king.

King George V was on the throne at the start of 1936 but died in June. On his death, his oldest son was declared Edward VIII and everyone that all was well. However, before the coronation could take place, Edward VIII abdicated the throne so that he could marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. Hence the 3rd king, George VI, Edward's younger brother inherited the throne and was crownded in June 1937. Actually, I think he was a MUCH better king than his playboy, Nazi sympathizing brother would ever had been.

So...there's a history lesson for the day. Cool, huh!

For more innformation click this link to the item:

3 English Kings Thimble

For other great British Royal Commemorative items, visit our home page and look for the English Royal Commemoratives category with sub categories for each of the royal family starting with Queen Victoria.

Today is the 1st real spring day for a bit. It was beautiful! My DH was out trimming bushes and I took a walk to look at the budding trees and spring bulbs. On the end of our street I could see all the way across the Strait Of San Juan De Fuca to Victoris, British Columbia Canada. A great view for a lovely day. Hope yours was a nice!

Hand Painted Pine Cone Butter Pat, Teabag Holder

I wanted to share this little hand painted porcelain dish. This is a butter pat and can be used as a teabag holder (because I have a lot of items for tea drinkers) and I think it's so cute. The butter pat was made by Wiesley China which was a part of Weissman Brothers, a US china firm that closed in 1957. They employed artists to hand paint their items, and this Pine Cones design was painted and signed by Barry. Don't know his last name, but they are cute! I also have 2 with a Dogwood Berries design that Barry did as well.

Ya gotta have a place for a tea infuser or teabag....no go for dumping it on the table. Besides, in a dish you may want to use it again for a second cup!

You can see this and others at Time Was Antiques. I have lots of teabag holders or caddies and quite a few butter pats which I tend to multi purpose around the house.

Hope all your gardens are springing with flowers and you didn't have too much rain on your Easter egg hunts. We were wet and windy. All our tulip leaves were flattened. But they have perked up today...just in time for another round of wind and rain tomorrow. As the weatherman said before our last storm came in last Fri. "You'll wake up tomorrow and think it's November again!". Hope it's nice in your area.

We went to the nursery today and picked up heather and ajuga to plant in a bare patch in the front garden, but as it's raining, we'll postpone until tomorrow. The arborist was across the street cleaning up the downed pine branches from the last storm. Hope it passes us by this time.

Spring floral teacups by Shelly anyone???

Okay...you know I love Shelley China, England and this is no exception. This cup and saucer is in the Low Oleander shape with embossed leaf pattern and has a pattern called Hedgerow. It fairly shouts SPRING!!! I love it. This pattern isn't often seen on this shape, so I think it's quite special. It came home with me from a recent buying trip because it grabbed me from across a room.....romantic indeed!!!!

Ever thought of a spring tea party for your friends? Get out your favorite flower patterned cups and saucers (they don't have to match, just be pretty) and make some spring flowers in a vase, tea sandwiches, shortbread with jam and spend a lovely afternoon in chat and admiration of the season. How often we need to socialize and relax and miss out because of our schedules???!!!

To see more Shelley China, this cup and saucer or more teacups and saucers, teapots of other English antiques and collectibles, visit Time Was Antiques.

Antique English tin pudding mold Steamer...Hot

This is so cool it's HOT...and hard not to get steamed up about it......Okay, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it!

Kitchenalia or kitchen collectibles are so much fun. This is an English tin pudding mold (or if a Brit, a mould) for steaming puddings (or if you're a Yank, desserts) that I LOVE to find in England when I'm there shopping for treasures. This one has a central spire or chimney which was used to convect the heat up through the middle to make sure the pudding is cooked all the way through.

You can even see years of discoloration on the outside caused by the boiling water in the kettle as the pudding steams. These work well for any kind of pudding...as an example the famous Christmas Plum pudding. These pudding tins were popular all through the victorian era to the second world war and some are still passed down in families to be used for special desert occasions.

To see more photos and info about the pudding mold use this clickable link to the listing at Time Was Antiques.

One of the great things about collecting kitchenalia or kitchen items is their relative affordability still. It's a great form of recycling and frankly, most of the older items are far better made and will last longer than their contemporary counterparts.

Here is a link to a great English Kitchenalia blog I found recently: kitchenalia

So the next time you are looking for a cooking ir kitchen item...thing of your local antique shop, flea market or swap meet. Old is new with an economic purpose again!

We have had the most beautiful week here...if you have been watching the Olympics in Vancouver which is northeast of us here at the top of Washington state's Olympic Peninsula you've seen what it's like here, but rain is coming in tomorrow. Sigh...back to normal. But hope it's spring where you are!

Shelley China Landscape Designs Woodland

I absolutely love Shelley China. Shelley closed in 1966 and is the focus of collecting societies in the USA, England and Australia and I am a member of all of them. The designs of Shelley are popular for many reasons. But in my opinion, the landscape designs are the most under appreciated ares of Shelley collecting.

Shelley landscape designs include Glorious Devon, Woodland, Surrey Scenery, Bluebell Woods, England's Charm and many others. One of my favorite is the Woodland design cup and saucer that is pictured here. The design was manufactured in several shapes and sizes in it's long history until the pottery closed in 1966.

I love England and the scenery is one of the reasons I do. This could be taken from any number of places from around the English countryside. When we used go annually for a buying trip, we always spent 1 week out of the month in some part of the country we are re-visiting or have never been, and choose for scenery more than anything. Then, of course, it's check the local papers for church fetes, antique fairs and car boot sales!

Just looking at Shelley's landscape designs is a mini trip to England for me and always bring a smile to my face.

To see more of Shelley's landscape or scenic designs... or any other Shelley we might currently have... check this link to Time Was Antiques.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone and may you share love with your best friend today!

Shelley Rose Chintz Bon Bon Dish

I absolutely love chintz and just wanted to share this seldom seen Shelley chintz pattern. The chintz is called Rose Chintz and was made only between 1963 and 1966 when Shelley closed it's doors. This is a sweet meat or bon bon dish and I love the subtle colors and pattern s of the Rose Chintz.
To learn more about the dish and pattern, use this clickable link to the listing on Time Was Antiques.
Today is sunny with lovely floating clouds and I don't think we'll see rain.
Have a great day & keep looking for chintz!

Figural Dolphin Antique English Ring Holder

I absolutely love this figural dolphin antique English ring holder. Ring holders have been in use since rings were around...800 years perhaps? And ring holders have ranged from the pure practical to an elegant statement of the prevailing tastes of the period. This great ring holder is fashioned after a renaissance or elizabethan dolphin...I've seen it's twin on an old map when the explorers expected to fall off the end of the flat world! The detail is really terrific and although made in England 1920-1930s, it remembers an earlier and more decorative period. Things were about to change even more with the advent of art deco and the modern taste when this poor dolphin design would definitely be OUT!

You can see more about the dolphin ring holder at Time Was Antiques.

We are still running our FRESH START free shipping on orders over $25.00 with the code listed on the website. We all need a little after-the-holidays boost, don't we?

Today is Epiphany or Twelfth Night, the night the e wisemen or magis reached the Christ child and is traditionally the end of the Christmas season. We have our outdoor Christmas lights on tonight for the last time...they're coming down tomorrow. Then everything will look bare and dull.

But then we get to look forward to Valentine's Day, presidential holidays and generally the hope of spring to come.

Have a great day tomorrow (while we are taking down the lights) and have a cuppa tea for me!