This weekend is the big antique event in this corner of the world – Gold Rush!  It’s an antique market that sets up in the entire town of Oronoco, MN and at the Rochester Fair Grounds.  I went last year, but it was raining, so I only experienced a small fraction of the event in Oronoco.  I did get to shop at the Rochester Fair Grounds venue, though, since most of that is indoors.  That’s where I bought this piece last year… This year, I was able to get a friend to watch the boys and I met up with another friend (a Gold Rush veteran) to do some antiquing. The weather was nice this year (or at least not raining), so I was able to see a lot more and get a better feel for the event.  Like most antique markets, this one is a mixed bag.  There is

One thing I wanted to do when I went back to PA to visit my parents was visit some of my favorite antique stores.  I have found some nice things in Minnesota, but I really missed the antiquing back east.  No, that’s too general.   I really missed my stores – the ones that were on my regular route.  I knew many of the vendors and which booths were routinely my favorite and I was never skunked. So, my mom, Jenn, and I hit a few of my favorite places and I found some awesome goodies.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find the biggies that were on my list, like a mirror for the dining room, but I found one of my favorite things in spades – ironstone. As you may know, I love ironstone and have been collecting it as well as buying and selling it for many years.  Thousands and thousands

I’ve been asked a lot lately about my pale blue & white antique dishes, specifically about the handleless cups and the pattern, so I thought I would share the details with everyone. I found my first handless cup several years ago.  I’m not generally a lover or collector of teacups, but I loved the more functional shape of these.  They are taller than traditional tea cups, making them suitable to be used for small potted plants, candleholders, pencil cups, all sorts of things.  And, since they don’t have a handle, they stack easily. By the way, they are cups, not egg cups or pudding molds.  They are from the 1800’s and that was the fashion, I suppose.  I don’t often think about the fact that these are well over 100 years old.  Oh, the stories they would tell… Anyway, the color of this transferware also caught my eye.  It is