Tuesday, July 29, 2014

For the Birds

I know you may find this hard to

but BBBH and I had a bit of a 
a while ago.

Come, my little
and I will tell you all about it.

Perhaps in the over all scheme of things, it is really nothing to
about; but nevertheless,

my Lady is still
.

Well, maybe a little "crow."
 We'll come back to that.

Owl, I swan, the hen is in a bonnet.

Wait.  These are not birds.
 
The drive took us through some lovely corn fields, some beautiful soybean fields.  But the drive through the small town brought us to an "antique" shoppe.  One does not pass such a place: The Gospel according to BBBH.  So stop we did.

BBBH collects cookie jars.  Now why on earth she didn't choose instead to collect hatpins or something that could easily be kept in a shoebox or a dresser drawer, I will never know.  Oh, wait a sec.  She does collect hatpins.  And hats.  But why belabor the point?  She is a collector.

The thing about cookie jars is that no matter how cute, or how grotesque, as the case may be, they take up lots of space, and require a flat surface for display.  Hence a frequent plaint is "I need more shelves."  Or worse, "It would be so simple for you to make me some shelves,"  yada, yada, yada.

So I got a bit sidetracked.  The stop in the shop is where the "lark" comes in, for She Who Must be Obeyed is in a bit of heaven when she is in such a place, and I am sure that we will spend a good bit of eternity there before departing.  Thus it is that often I will scan the entire place and exit same while she is still looking at the first display!  I am not exaggerating.  Anyway, the part that is hard to swallow is that she found not one, but two cookie jars that she had to have.  The first is the crow, the second the hen.  She already had the owl.

Pigs? you say.  Why pigs?  Well, I found those.  They are Shawnee pigs.  They are small, and the price was right.  Worn a bit?  Yes.  A blind pig and a one-eyed pig.  But they are Shawnees.  I will do that within the constricts of a very limited budget for such gew-gaws.

cf pigs and cookie jar:  pigs are 3.25  inches tall, crow is 12  inches.

9 comments:

Grace said...

First off - Did you draw the birds? I like the 3rd one best - I'm guessing it's a chick-a-dee?

I looked up Shawnee pigs - turns out Shawnee is the name of a pottery company famous for their smiling pig ceramics. They also did a Puss-in-Boots series.

I'm not a collector so I'm not sure why folks would do that except as an investment - stamps, coins - get the right ones, nice return down the line. But if it makes someone happy then that is it's own reason.

My mother had a cookie jar I coveted - not that I have any great interest in cookie jars as such, I just liked it - my brother has it now and supposedly it is some kind of collectors item worth a nice penny or two. Me, I just liked it.

vanilla said...

Grace, let us say that while I did wield the pen, I had some serious guidelines. The sketches are, in order of appearance, swallow, lark, chickadee, crow, and raven.

Shawnee did make items other than porcine images. I have a couple of salt 'n peppers, which is not yet enough to make me a collector. The last time I saw a Shawnee pig cookie jar, the merchant was asking $350. I am not that interested in pottery. Although I have seen some really gorgeous Van Briggle and Rookwood items.

Vee said...

My pottery pieces are so limited as to be a non-collection, but I do have a few fun things. No pigs though!

vanilla said...

Vee, you are aware, are you not, that by definition three of anything make a collection?

Vee said...

By that definition, I apparently have some collections.

Secondary Roads said...

I love your picture story. Nice art work. At least your BBBH doesn't collect automobiles or trucks.

vanilla said...

Vee, I am sure you have collections. The definition is tricky, though. For example, if you own a 52-piece service for eight fine china, that is not a collection; nor do you have a collection if you acquire a second similar set. But the third set. . .

Chuck, thank you. I had fun with it. I once had a collection of automobiles-- owned four at the same time. No longer, thank goodness.

Sharkbytes said...

Nice drawings! I recognized all the birds. And, sadly, I am one of those who thinks three of anything has become a collection, and more must follow. Sigh. Not cookie jars, but you should see my boxes of things.

vanilla said...

Sharkey, thank you. There was some tracing involved, but I'll claim the pen-strokes. So you are a collector. Yet it seems your stuff will fit into boxes.