Kitty Home Come!

Sweet Pea is her name. This adorable stray cat first came to the backdoor of the cottage needing a nuzzle and a meal. Ever since she has been the centerpiece of family life.

Sweet Sweet Pea

The kitty has even been granted special permission to nap on Grandma's favorite chaise lounge.

Lately, though, I have begun to worry about what will happen to kitty when I fly away home, and when the North wind begins to blow. I am told, not to worry... that she has already survived at least two Upstate winters (one even in the attic of the cottage garage). But Sweet Pea needs a real home. With that in mind, she has just applied for a position as chief mouse catcher and shop cat for Swansdown Antiques at Rose Hill Mansion in Geneva. Finger crossed she aces the interview.

Call me Smitten,,

Marjorie

"Stars" on Seneca Lake

With blue skies above and the wind in your sails, whether you're in a "Star" or a "Comet", the sailing is keen sport on Seneca Lake.

Still Riding the Waves,
Marjorie

A Girl Can Never Have Too Many...

Sally Patchins. Not a posh handbag like the Birkin bag (or as they say in the Beijing silk market, a "Barking bag"). It's a basket, but not like its wealthier cousin, the Nantucket basket. Still around these parts a Sally Patchin is a must-have.

Sally (1874-1958) lived in Patchinville, (near Wayland, NY in Steuben County), where she ran a cottage industry of hand-painted baskets from her studio. She did not make the baskets herself, often buying large lots from China and India. Most were utilitarian ~ sewing, laundry and market baskets which she adorned with her designs of birds, and old-fashioned garden flowers (hollyhocks, pansies, delphiniums...) Her work is colorful and cheerful, and some would say primitive.

From the Internet.

From the Internet.

You can't walk into a local antiques shop, or show, and not see the fruits of her labor. Here in Upstate New York, The Wayland Historical Society owns a collection of "Patchins", and Steuben County named her to their Hall of Fame. She received national recognition when the Library of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., created a file with photographs of her work and information on her life.

One ardent fan owns a collection of 400 Sally Patchins! I am happy to own two.

First and Last ~ From My Collection.

Counting my blessings and my baskets,
Marjorie

(Posting from the Scenic Finger Lakes of New York State, USA)

Yankee Doodle Dandies

Geneva-on-the-Lake, July 4, 1929

Another Fourth of July celebration at the American Legion. The headliners were local "hoofers", Dorothy Sebastian and Anita Page, who performed a Patriotic tap routine. A dazzling fireworks display followed.

Applause, applause,
Marjorie