Sunday, July 01, 2012

Vintage Finds & A Kitty Story

Yesterday, we made a little road trip to Nanton, a small town south of Calgary, with David's mother, brother and sister-in-law.  The town has a few antique stores, a candy and ice cream store, and a quaint little cafe for lunch.  It was such a fun day, although good antiques are quite scarce here in western Canada (unless you are in the market for a wagon wheel or 100 ft of old barbed wire).  

I managed to find a couple of pretty vintage finds for fair prices (also rare).

Generally I don't buy pressed glass, but I loved the shape of this urn vase.  I loosely arranged some Masterwort, which is blooming in our garden right now, along with some ferns:
Cicada original etching from Etsy here

I love its neo-classical lines (my favorite historical look):

I also found a darling little Dresden porcelain pot, ca.1910, which mirrors the lines of the antique Eva Ziesel Haviland pot I bought (and blogged about) a short time ago. I am totally into this shape right now and can see the beginnings of a collection:

The detailing on the pot is different all the way around.  This is the back, which is also very pretty, with more white showing:

We had a fantastic day, but heard a rather sad story on our trip.  While visiting the local historic hotel, we stopped to say hello to the resident kitty who lives at the hotel bar:
 He looks like an old boxer, with his big paws, fierce stare and cauliflower ears.  

I asked the owner what happened to his ears and he said that during a drunken winter visit to the bar, a nearby hockey team STOLE THE CAT and took him with them on their bus.  That is bad enough, but then they dumped him out far away in the middle of winter (it can easily be -35C or -31F here in winter and there are miles of open prairie between towns).   

I am not sure how long he was missing but luckily a passerby recognized him as the Nanton hotel cat!  His ears were frostbitten! 
 Poor little guy!  

Luckily, he didn't seem too fazed by his misfortune.  He looked pretty relaxed and I suspect he gets a LOT of attention every day.  But still...I felt pretty bad for the little guy.  I am a serious cat lover and think people who do this kind of thing to defenseless animals should be taken out and shot (after being treated the same way themselves).  Ugh!
*
Hope you are having a nice holiday weekend.  It is Canada Day today!  
Happy Canada Day to you!

And Happy 4th of July to all my American friends!

xo Terri

15 comments:

  1. Hey there - Happy Canada Day!! Love your new old vase! Wonderful classical style....also my favorite period / style. See, there are good antiques near you ;-) Poor kitty....how people can be so cruel, I will never understand. And why we do not have tougher laws, I cannot understand. Have you and David made your holiday travel plans, yet?
    Cheers!

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  2. I have similar fierce feelings toward people who hurt animals , children, and the elderly. Oh no, the list doesn't end there. I have fierce feelings against anyone who is a total jackass and lacks all moral fiber. Now look what you've gone and done to my image?! =D

    What nice finds. You are always thinking of the beautiful lines and both of these vases certainly have those. All you need is one more of the Dresden pot shape to make a collection. Wonder how long it'll take you to find that one.

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  3. LOVE the urn and that Masterwort is pretty darn cool. I don't think I've seen it before. It looks great with the little bit of fern.

    What a terrible and odd story about the cat. I'm happy that we're enacting laws that protect animals. And the news stations have been great about championing the cause.

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  4. Anonymous6:22 pm

    First of all, Happy Canada Day from Ontario!

    Beautiful and hot day here in Burlington, Ontario! I love your special purchases and when we lived in Calgary, we too visited Nanton but missed the antique store and spent most of our time at the Air Museum (have to please hubby) and you are right it's not much of a town.

    Now, I get so upset when I read about mistreatment of animals of any size. Have been an animal lover since I was a child and can never understand how a human can hurt a helpless animal...no punishment is too severe in my mind.

    Hope you had a nice day in Calgary! NB

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  5. Anonymous6:50 pm

    Love the porcelain pot and the masterwort!
    I enjoy reading your blog and hearing about Calgary, having lived there for almost 4 years in the early 80's.
    Cheers, Kathy

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  6. Anonymous6:50 pm

    Love the porcelain pot and the masterwort!
    I enjoy reading your blog and hearing about Calgary, having lived there for almost 4 years in the early 80's.
    Cheers, Kathy

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  7. Anonymous8:40 pm

    Agree! (& also with Vee)
    People who are cruel like that should be seriously dealt with!
    I am so sick of VILE people too.
    Animals give us the greatest joy.
    They are so helpless.
    Happy Canada Day from Australia.
    Summer.

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  8. Thanks everyone. I know, it breaks my heart when I see an animal, or anyone vulnerable mistreated. Luckily the goodness of a stranger helped save this little guy. I am sure the entire hockey team was not to blame either - just a couple of idiots.

    T.

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  9. we have yet to travel to Nanton, but are anxious to check it out! Sad story about that kitty. As a vet, I have seen some horrific and sad situations; in fact, both my cat and dog were rescues from animal abuse cases. Now they live an honored life =)

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  10. You found some gorgeous things Terri- wow!
    Happy Canada day to you too. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary yesterday. Figured July 1st was a safe date that Canadian hubby would have no excuse to miss our anniversaries.

    Hugs to you~
    T

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  11. loving the clear vase you bought, Masterwort is a new one on me... I must look into that one for our garden area.
    We drove out to Nanton a few years ago, interest place for a summer drive.
    So glad that kitty made it through those terrible people, what a cutie...

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  12. That is really a great vase. I generally pass by glass too but I guess I had better start taking a second look.
    Sad kitty story.

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  13. oh terri i LOVE that vase! as an antique dealer i see a lot but nothing like it, good score!
    ok, i am with you 100%, treat the abusers the same then take them out to be shot. i will never understand blatant cruelty
    xo
    debra

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  14. Thanks for saving this cat, hope he gets well soon. Cats help us in checking rat population and they serve as great companion animal.

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  15. I am a HUGE cat fan, I just can't believe that someone could do that to an animal, its blatant abuse, really upsetting. I'm so glad he made it home and is happy.

    Well done on your purchases, they are lovely :)

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