A Tale of Two Teacups - Vintage Thingie Thursday

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I have not been joining Vintage Thingie Thursday much at all for the past couple of years, mostly because I think I've already shown nearly all my vintage thingies.

The other day I realized that what I love MOST about vintage thingies is the tale that goes with them, so I thought I'd "revisit" my vintage thingies and share them with their tale.

If you are a long time VTT player, and if you've already seen all my stuff I apologize in advance for forcing you to re-view them.
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Last summer while poking my nose around a cute little antique shop on a very hot July day in the northwoods of Wisconsin, I found this teacup.

It is so fine, the china so thin, that it feels like an egg shell.  It is translucent, nearly transparent.
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Something about its delicate nature spoke to m.

I wondered who had owned it, how many tea parties had it seen, and most of all how it survived intact this long.

There was a set of 12 or so teacups in the case, but I decided to buy just one.

And this little princess of teas came home with me.
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My friend Eloise, pronounced E-Lois, was with me that day.  She and I both stood there admiring the dainty cups and saucers.  We both marveled at their pristine condition.

I decided to buy - - - she did not, or so I thought.
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Until my birthday arrived on December 30th and Eloise, pronounced E-Lois, gave me a gift.

Tucked inside that gift, in a soft bed of fluffy tissue paper, was a sister to my teacup.  "I thought you needed TWO" said Eloise, pronounced E-Lois, "I might want to come over and drink a cup of tea with you!"

Well, there's been no tea drinking from the cups as yet - - - instead they are gracing my buffet with their dainty little selves and - - -
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Sometimes at night, they light my world.

Thanks Eloise, pronounced E-Lois, I just love my teacups!
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Linking today to Vintage Thingie Thursday

At Coloradolady.

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I'm No Ezra Jack Keats - - -

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But THIS is a snowy day anyway.

Oh no, don't misunderstand me, I am NOT complaining about it - - - I do LOVE me my wintertime snow!
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This is how my little candy apple red wagon looked after a couple of hours out in the parking lot this morning.
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Of COURSE I was out and about in it - - - this IS Wisconsin ya know!!
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If we stayed "in" waiting for perfectly clear roads, blue skies, and zero snow we'd stay "in" from November through May.

When I lived in the south I giggled about the whole bread and milk situation when the word snow was merely mentioned by the weathermen.

If you don't know what bread and milk situation I'm talking about - - - you've never lived in the south.

South Chicago does NOT count.
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I came home from my morning jaunt and decided to shovel before I even came into the house.
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My snow pile is going to get even bigger 'cause I really need to get out there and shovel again.
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I'm guessing by now we've probably received a new 5 or 6 inches on top of what we already had.

It's enough that our mailboxes are threatening to play "hide and seek" with the snow bank.
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Look to the left (south.)
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Look to the right (north)

Come in and attempt to go about one's day.

WAIT!!!!   Why isn't the HEAT working?

Called for the "heat guy" who came and had me fixed up in a jiffy.

He no sooner left than it stopped working again - - - so now he's down there making clinking, clanking, and rumbling noises - - - I HOPE those are helpful in bringing back the heat.

If you could see me, you just might giggle at me blogging with my hoodie jacket on and the hoodie UP over my head.

BRING ON MORE WINTER!!!
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My snow gauges are MUCH HAPPIER with some snow to gauge.

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Solitary Ice Fisherman in My City

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Last week for SIMC I showed you an ice fishing shanty town on Lake Nepco.

This week I want to show you that not ALL ice fishing on the frozen tundra is done from a shanty town.
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If you look out on this frozen pond on his days off, you will spy this solitary fisherman decked out in his red and black "weather proof" togs.

This would be the now blog-infamous Fisherhubby.
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Come with me, we'll follow his sled trail across the ice to see if Fisherhubby will show us his craft.

Don't worry about him being cold - - - it was a balmy 9 degrees above zero that day.  (F of course)
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This is how you drill the ice fishing hole.

Fisherhubby has graduated up to a gas powered auger.  When I asked if that expense was necessary he looked at me and said,  "Do YOU want to drill through a foot of ice with a hand cranked auger.

He may have a point.

The gas auger powered him through the ice in less time than it takes to say Jack Robinson.

Once he had drilled the hole, he used the side of his boot to brush away the loose ice and snow from over the top of the hole.
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Next he picked up this tool - - - his handy dandy "ice chip scooper"
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After a few swipes with the ice chip scooper, his fishing hole was free and clear and ready for action.

His warm clothes are water proof, so he wasn't a bit careful to not splash himself during this process.

He did, however, aim one soggy scoop toward my feet, causing me to jump back out of his way since my leggings were NOT waterproof.
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I took this picture looking down into his fishing hole.  If you look carefully at the top half of the hole, you will see how deep the ice is, and you can even see how it freezes in layers.
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Now the happy ice fisherman is ready to unpack his fishing sled, sit on his bucket, put his under-ice fish finder probe into the hole and begin a happy few hours of fishing.

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He watches this orange tip of his pole - - - if it wiggles and jiggles and wriggles he knows a fish is nibbling.
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That orange tip is part of this - - - a special ice fishing pole called a tip-up, because the little metal tripod holds the tip up and the fisherman may walk away if he so chooses and still be fishing.

Fisherhubby says it's really cool.
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The little round box to his right is filled with the maggots he was using as bait.

I spared you a close up shot of those.

Though if you had been with us, live and in person, Fisherhubby would have told you it was necessary to put a maggot in your MOUTH to keep it warm so it would wiggle on the hook and attract more fish.

He would have been lying, and I certainly hope YOU would not have fallen for his pranks.

Also, notice his large, rounded, black boots which are called "Mickey Mouses" for obvious reasons.  They are one of his most treasured pieces of ice fishing equipment because they are warm and waterproof.
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If ice forms across the top of the fishing hole, the ice scooper is just the tool to quickly remove it before the hole freezes completely over.
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Well, we've seen what we came to see, so since WE are not togged out in waterproof red, black, and Mickey Mouse, we shall leave the fisherman to his craft and head back home to our nice warm fleece blankie and a hot cuppa joe.
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Today I'm joining Unknown Mami

For Sundays in My City.

My city is Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
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Please hurry over to Unknown Mami's to see

What others are sharing from their cities.

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The Best Laid Frags of Mice and Men

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Friday is once again just around the proverbial corner which means we get to unload our minds and hearts of the various and sundry fragments that have been collecting like veritable dust bunnies in the corners.
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I do hope none of these FRAGS go astray, however as with the best laid plans of mice and men, best laid jokes often do go astray.

Last Friday I told you about bringing home this runner and throwing it at the foot of our bed as a JOKE on Fisherhubby who says I have WAY TOO MANY throw rugs.

This one makes 24, unless you count the 10 down in the basement which are "softening" the harsh realities of a concrete floor - in which case this makes 34.

Well, I never intended to LIKE this rug, much less KEEP it - - - -

As the week wore on, so did my feelings of endearment for this runner. Fisherhubby said he didn't mind one more rug - - - so the joke is now on ME, for I have decided to keep what I never intended to bring in here in the first place.

Sigh.
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I am no tablescaper, but I do know about the proper placement of plates, silver, glassware, and napkins.

This is the table I set to have company over last week - - -
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We were just having pizza, so I dispensed with knives and spoons, which we did not need.

This was the "maiden voyage" for my antique Mildred china.  I'm sure it has seen MANY a dinner before - - - just not at OUR table.

I wonder how Mildred is enjoying coming out of retirement in a packing crate, (formerly in our GARAGE in Indiana) to the china cabinet, and from thence to the dining room table!?!

I think she's holding up quite well for an OLD gal.

And Boopie (the glass) was happy to come out and play as well.
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Our friends Shawn and Stephanie came to enjoy the pizza, cheese cake (which Stephanie brought) and three rounds of Catch Phrase.

A lovely time was had by all.

Well - - - I guess I should really just speak for myself - - - I had a fabulous time!
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I'm pretty sure all of y'all have experienced the joy of battery operated votives,  but I had NOT until this Christmas season.
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Since then I believe I've gone a little wild and crazy with them - - - placing them in various and sundry cups, plates, and other vesicles around my home.

I think I LIKE them.
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I am NOT a happy camper about the conditions my snow gauges have been revealing during the month of January.  After nearly a week of days with 40ish degree highs, (F of course) this is all the snow we have left.

It's despicable.  It's enough to make me cry.

I am NOT in favor of January thaws.
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The other morning our sky was a bit red - - - "red sky at morn, sailors forewarn."

Yes PLEASE, sailors, cried I - - - do be forewarned!!!

Well, all we got out of it was a powder sugaring - - - not enough, but better than nuttin' honey!
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Fisherhubby has conscripted THIS area of our bedroom as his recharging station, much to my sorrow.
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But when I came in one day to find his ICE FISHING POLE leaning up against the chest of drawers, I tried to draw a line in the sand carpet.

"Can't that thing go in the garage?" queried I? 

"I need to put new line on it" he replied, "and it's too cold to do it outside or in the garage."

It is true, we had a couple of days when the high hovered around 0.

Just imagine my JOY when the "re-lining" process took place right on the coffee table in the living room.

Eye-yi-yi-yi!
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The other day, one last birthday present arrived for me from FH's mom.

How fun to stretch out my celebrations for nearly a month!!!

And is that not the CUTEST packaging?

Can you read it?  It says "Junk in the Trunk" which is a shop in Florida that repurposes all kinds of cute things.

I opened the package with great care and found this necklace:
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I really like these "new fangled" ribbon necklaces, don't you?
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And here, I UNDERLINED part of the card that came with it so you could notice it.

Now WHAT reason could there ever be for this little Bucky to make her think of me?????

ON WISCONSIN!
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This is a side view our our friends' (Vernon and Sharon) home.

It was a "balmy" 9 degrees today and I didn't feel like trudging all the way to the FRONT over the unevenly frozen ground to get a picture.

Don't judge me.

Anyway - - - it's a lovely home and quite spacious with a full basement.
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Another really cool thing about it is - - - it is heated by this outdoor wood burner.

I'm not ENTIRELY positive how it works, but I BELIEVE it heats water which is then pumped through the house.

I do know this for sure and for certain - - - it HEATS the house.  Many is the time I've been too warm in there even when the temperatures outdoors were very arctic.
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Specimen "A"

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Specimen "B"

Specimen "A" and "B" are clues to my upcoming Sunday post.  Anyone care to hazard a guess as to either's identity?

You may place your guesses in the comments.

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That's all I've got for today.

Please hurry over to Mrs. 4444's place 

To see everyone else's Best Laid Frags

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Ice Fishing Village in My City

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This is Lake Nepco as it was back in the summer.

In winter you'd hardly recognize it - - - it's had a change of state.

A fishing village has appeared on its now solid surface, but don't take my word for it - - - as you know a picture is worth a thousand words.
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Since Fisherhubby didn't plan to ice fish today, these fishermen posed for my camera with their gear.  Yes, I really did ask two total strangers if they'd be on my blog.  They even smiled for the camera.

As you can see, they have all their ice fishing gear piled onto a plastic sled so they can pull it out onto the ice and back again.
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Trust me, it takes A LOT of gear to ice fish.  There's a special pole called a pop-up, an under the ice fish finder - - -
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an auger - preferably gas powered to drill through the thick ice, buckets for holding the fish AND sitting upon, tons of bait - - - and for some there are shanties.
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Just as soon as the ice is thick enough, the ice shanties begin to appear out in the middle of the lake.
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Many of these are placed into a village and remain there for the duration of the ice season.
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People drive their trucks or 4-wheelers out onto the ice right up to the door of their fishing shanty.
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Today as I watched, this truck began pulling its shanty to and fro.
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I'm not sure if he was coming, going, or just repositioning.

I suspect he was just repositioning because his back window flap was up the entire time.
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Some of these shanties even have heat - - - can you see the smoke coming out of the chimney on this one?  I suspect it is from a fire in a wood stove.

Some folks have their shanties rigged up with refrigerator, beds, furniture, and television.

I drove by shanty town late one night and noticed that many of them had electric lights.

I wonder how much fishing goes on - - - or if it is all just a ruse for a winter-long party.

This is, after all, Wisconsin - the beer capitol.  Oh yes, we "do dairy" here, but never think the dairy out did the beer.
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It appeared to be a busy day at shanty town, in spite of the 40 degree temperatures which were melting the surface snow and forming ponds all across the ice.

I was a bit leery to walk out onto the wet ice - though I was drastically in the minority.

There are fines.  If the ice becomes too thin, the shanty owner fails to take heed, and his shanty sinks he will pay in cold hard cash.

Pun intended.
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Some folks prefer to use more portable shelter like these tents.

They aren't as heavy as the shanties and not as likely to drop through the ice. 
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A very popular kind is called a "clam" and it swings up out of a plastic sled and back down in for easy set-up and removal.  If the fishing isn't good in one spot, it is a simple matter to move the clam to a new location.

Fisherhubby has his eye on one of these, but spent his Chirstmas moola on the under ice fish finder instead.
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Even man's best friend finds plenty to do in shanty town.
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And at the end of a long day, those who don't "live" in shanty town load up their sleds with all of the necessary fishing fru fru and head for shore in hopes of returning another day.
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Today I'm joining Unknown Mami

For Sundays in My City.
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Please hurry over to see

What others are sharing from their cities today.

My city is Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin

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