The Spring Crud Can't Keep Me From a Good Estate Sale!

I've spent the week fighting off the spring crud and am just beginning to emerge out from under wads of Kleenix, aspirin bottles and nose drops.  I got up off the couch this weekend and hit two nearby estate sales.  My biggest prize turns out to be this 8-3/8" berry bowl in my favorite depression glass pattern:  No. 610 Pyramid by Indiana Glass.  This pattern was made from 1926-1932 and came in green, pink, yellow and crystal originally.   I love the art deco lines of the pattern; when Steve and I were in Jefferson, TX last October I found this 9-1/2" oval bowl that I had to have.  The green is my favorite though I like the pink, too.

Anyway, I was walking through a crowded estate sale and the house was filled with stuff.  It was a lot to take in.  I picked up a couple of little things and as I walked through the kitchen I saw the green bowl jammed in the back of a pantry with a $9.00 sticker on it.  It's in beautiful shape and I was thrilled.  I clutched it close to me as I made a beeline to the table to pay up and leave.  I just never see this pattern anywhere except on eBay or in an occasional antique mall.  To find one at an estate sale at such a great price was fun.  A real treasure!

At another sale I picked up this Fostoria American pitcher.  It's squat and stocky (and heavy!) and I like it.  I like this pattern, too; my grandmother left me some pieces which is how I got into semi-collecting this pattern.  There are lots and lots of pieces to this pattern and you'd have to live in a warehouse to collect it all.  I pick up the odd piece here and there.  I got this pitcher today and the salt and pepper shakers.  I gave long thought to a relish dish that was there and to a oil and vinegar cruet set on a tray but left them behind.

At that same sale I also picked up two books - one is an 1895 edition of the complete works of John Keats; I, of course, have several old volumes of Keats and some modern printings, but I liked this old one.  It's got a plate with his portrait in front.

I also picked up a 1958 edition (hardback) of Gilbert Highet's The Art of Teaching which is apparently considered a classic.  It's filled with such gems as "The teacher's chief difficulty is poverty."  And on the subject of "tough schools" and the challenges of the unmotivated, he writes:

"A woman teacher in such a situation has a far harder time than a man...it is worse than useless to post a woman to such tough schools.  One of the essential reforms which should be made is to staff them all with men.  Girls will respect a man, and the boys will at any rate not despise him."

I can't wait to read this book and see what other bits of advice I've missed out on all these years.  I'm not being wholly sarcastic: the book is reputed to be filled with good common sense.  I'll add it to my summer reading.

Other than that, it's a lazy Saturday at chez SIGIS while I crawl back onto the couch to continue my recovery.  My neighbors are industriously working in their front flower beds and I feel like a sloth, but I've got to get this crud behind me.  Summer is coming!

Loose Thoughts and Roosters

I'm getting sick.  I'm so disappointed.  I wasn't going to mention it for fear of breaking the good luck string, but I missed out on getting the "fall crud" this past fall and up until now I thought I would skate on the "spring crud" too.  I was getting worried that my ENT guy might forget about me.  I guess I'll be visiting him soon.  Meh.

I've been in a funk this week after a local election this week for the schools.  For you non-locals, there were 3 issues on the ballot.  One of the three passed.  The one that passed is designated for building new schools and upgrading existing structures.  My school will benefit from this as every time someone on the first floor turns on their electric heater all the fuses blow and the custodian has to change it out and restore power.  We're long overdue for an electrical upgrade, especially to accommodate all the technology that  is now running through this very old building.  So that was good.

What didn't pass was the five percent teacher pay raise (we haven't had one in seven years; I'm bringing home less now than I did just three years ago) or the technology upgrade.

I'm not going to get into my emotions on all that right now; I'm toying with a post on it but I'm not ready to go there yet.  I'll just say that though there were a lot of people in support of the teachers, there were plenty of nasty comments made that really disheartened me.  One person left a comment on a local news article that suggested teachers should "just eat less and not drive such fancy cars."  He said every teacher he knows is driving a Lexus or some other expensive car.  I'm not even going to go there.  There's an idiot in every crowd.

But, I've been disheartened and discouraged.  Governor Jindal is coming after us with everything he's got and now the local voters have smacked us.  Teacher morale is low low low.  But,  HEY I'm about to get  THE WHOLE SUMMER OFF.  Not.  Anyone who believes that malarky is in need of counseling.

But, what has made me feel better this week is my kids.  I just love my students.  That's another post in itself, too.  But I've had great kids and that's what keeps me going to work every day.  One of my former students took the picture above today outside at lunch of me and her stuffed rooster (kidnapped from the art teacher) Pancho.  I'm not sure if his name is Pancho, but that's what I called him.  We have great kids at my school.  Love!

Elsewhere on the web:

Stacy McCain is following the trail of Trayvon Martin related attacks.  What the hell is wrong with people?  My god.

A Cop's Watch is also on the trail.

Ed Driscoll has an alarming wrap-up on the whole thing.

However, Adrienne has the most compelling story I've seen today in defense of the Second Amendment.

Is the secret to a great presidential legacy all in one's alcohol intake?  Pirate's Cove reports.

In the spirit of Holocaust Remembrance Day, let me again point you to my friend Nico Van Thyn's blog; he is the son of two Holocaust survivors and has been telling their story.  I had the privilege of meeting his parents several times and am glad Nico is recording their history.  Please read.

I'm off to take some cold meds, some allergy meds, and some more vitamins just to cover all my bases.