Hunting with a Friend

Some of you may remember from a previous post that I had a dear friend flying in from the East Coast for a visit. She has now come and gone and what a time we had!  We are kindred spirits who love flowers, good food, antiquing and thrifting…so you know there was plenty of each in the past few days, including a visit to Filoli Gardens (Woodside, CA) and The Chart House (Monterey, CA) where I indulged in coconut shrimp and grilled asparagus.

On the hunting front we, of course, popped into my neighborhood thrift store. There I found three Mayfair Wedgwood cereal coupe  bowls made for William Sonoma. Luck was with me because apparently this particular bowl shape is rather scarce and replacements.com has them listed for $55.99 per bowl! Alrighty then!

In the next town over I bought an oddity–a vintage bisque doll head. It is signed “Handmade by Cheryl Sanden” and has an impress of the mold name on the back which I haven’t deciphered. It was pricy and my friend thought I was nuts. And my family thought I was nuts. And my daughter’s boyfriend was creeped out by it. Still, I’m standing by it. I think someone will want this.

After wiping it down I removed the wodge of paper towel they had stuffed inside the head and felt something inside the towel. Yahoo…bonus stuff! For a few seconds I indulged in a bit of fantasy. Suppose there was wonderful jewelry hidden inside? But no, it was a pair of bisque doll hands. Still cool, but not quite as heart thumping.

Later in the week, we journeyed to the Monterey peninsula where my friend scored on pants, jeans and a cool pair of $8 black leather biker boots at a thrift store that helps support a no-kill animal shelter. 🙂 My first find there was this amazing religious icon of St. Catherine of Alexandria.

It’s painted on a solid piece of wood (over 1″ deep) by artist Toma Tomov. I was delighted to find this.

I also bought this fun wrapped amethyst geode necklace just because I like amethyst and this was quite nice with a sweet chain.

At a funky home decor store with vintage and upcycled items I fell in love with this little salt-glazed stoneware lamb that was signed and dated on the bottom.

Turns out it was made in 1985 by Eldreth Pottery in Pennsylvania. I’m tempted to keep this fella for a while.

Alas I didn’t find anything at the huge antique mall in Monterey. At most antique stores I’m able to find a few things that have a bit of “meat on the bone,” but not here. My husband overheard some folks talking about one of the vacant spaces for rent. (It was possibly one of their 10′ by 10′ spaces.) The monthly rent was over $500! Good grief. I think that explains some of the prices. Still it was fun looking and I did see some lovely things.

My friend and I had a grand visit and I’m a bit sad that it will be another year (or more) till I see her again. Still I treasure our time together. Such a wonderful gift.

As always, happy hunting,

Karen