Orange Is Such A Lovely Color

Orange is a lovely color.  Think of a bright orange sun rising in the morning, and even a more vibrant orange at sunset.  And orange groves, and orange juice and yams, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, lava, carrots, cheese, marigolds, Irish Setter dogs, orange sherbet (oh, how I love this!) cheetohs and doritos, cheez-its,  and well, all things orange, quite simply, beautiful, and in a lot of cases yummy!  Finishing up the scavenger hunters theme at ESN of "orange" this week, I have chosen Nancy's Doll Closet.  She makes all the American Doll clothing that she has in her store.  And any little girl would love to own any one of these outfits or accessories that Nancy offers.  I chose this lovely dress.

American Girl 18" Doll - Julie - Orange Dress

Those beautiful orange barrettes really sets the whole dress off don't you think?  And the nice lace ruffle around the bottom of the dress is so delicate looking and is just lovely, a very nice touch.  If you are in need for American Girl doll clothes for your girl, visit Nancy, I'm sure you'll find something that she will adore. Visit all of us at Ecrater Stores Network for your Christmas shopping! 

Orange Longhair Cats

I seem to have a small theme of cats going on in my store recently.  I found about 5 cat figurines in a cupboard in the spare bedroom/warehouse/office/storage, well whatever I can get to fit in there!  But NO, I am NOT a hoarder! It is inventory! :)  I don't know anything about Orange Longhair Cats.  I do love cats, but I haven't had one in years.  But the scavenger hunter's theme this week is "orange", so since I have this cat figurine I thought I might blog about it.  Well, I had no idea the history of the longhair cat was so involved!  I, myself, am not fond of cats with the mushed in faces (no offense to those that adore them, just a personal preference!) although I do think pugs and bulldogs are adorable.  Oh, I'm getting off track (dog lover, can you tell?) ... anyway, it appears the domestic longhair hails from the Persian and/or Angora or actually any mixed ancestry, you can check it all out at Wikipedia.  But the pictures of them on  are quite awesome, except for the scary little guy with the "lion cut" near the bottom of the page on the Persian longhair page.  Le Petit Marché's little orange longhair cat figurine is pretty cute, with piercing bright orange eyes.  If you have a cat lover in your family, or a lover of this breed and color then this is the item for their collection.  Christmas is sooner than you think, so start shopping now at Ecrater Stores Network ! 

Orange Longhair Cat Figurine

Thanksgiving Is Over For This Year

Well, Thanksgiving is over for another year and now the mad rush towards Christmas begins.  I had a nice Thanksgiving, although pretty much all I did was cook, clean up and cook again, and there was only 4 of us!  But I had to go to the grocery because the meal I ordered forgot our mashed potatoes!  The look of horror on my guests faces that there might not be mashed potatoes was too much to bear, so I had to venture out.  How I wished it was 1621 then since the pilgrims didn't know about potatoes (mentioned in last blog posting).  But I trudged on and going to the grocery on T-day wasn't so bad, although I did wonder about the few people I saw who seemed to be doing their weekly shopping.  No where to go?  No friends or family to be with?  And the man I was behind in the checkout line, he had a large frozen turkey at 11:30 in the morning.  Ugh, that will never work, but maybe he was going to celebrate T-day over the week-end, who knows!  So, I was thankful for the lovely day, the lovely people I'd be spending it with, the good food and of course.... American football.  What can I say? It's tradition!!  So to end last week's theme of Thanksgiving for the scavenger hunter's at ESN I have found a few perfect aprons for your next feast at Embroidery Fashions Boutique.

Give Thanks Turkey Apron

Autumn Blessings Happy Thanksgiving

She has many other T-Day items and items for other occasions as well, so stop on by to see if she has what you need, and don't forget to visit all of us at Ecrater Stores Network!  Ciao!

Thanksgiving - An American Holiday

This Thursday, November 22 is the Thanksgiving holiday in America.  And it is this weeks theme at ESN so. It is tradition to have turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cranberry sauce and then whatever else has evolved to become individual customs.  America has celebrated Thanksgiving as far back as at least 1621 when the pilgrims finally had a decent harvest thanks to the locals, Native Americans, but back in the day were called Indians.  President Abraham Lincoln declared in 1863 the last day in Thursday of November to be a "Day of Thanksgiving".  Over the course of about 75 years other presidents declared national days of Thanksgiving, but who knows what day any of those guys chose, so it must have got confusing for the general public because in 1941 Congress declared the 4th Thursday in the month of November as the official day of thanksgiving.  And, well, thankfully it was settled!  No one is truly sure of what that "first meal" consisted of, but rumor has it that the Indians brought deer, and perhaps a few wild turkeys were there as well.  Corn, squashes, and perhaps other veggies were available, but no potatoes, the pilgrims didn't know about them then, so no "mashers" on the first Thanksgiving! Of course being in Massachusetts and on the coast there must have been some pilgrim fisherman so I expect there was fish, crustaceans and other "fruits de mer" (fruits of the sea). Le Petit Marché doesn't have anything actually depicting Thanksgiving as such, but here's a cute set of dishes you might like for your next year celebration.  It's a Hallmark Expressions Decorative Flowers Dishes

Make your own custom with these dishes filled with nuts, olives, bits of cheese, dipping oil for a lovely bread or whatever new custom you would like to create for your own family!  Bon Appétit, et
Je souhaite une bonne santé! à la prochaine!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone, wherever you are!

Flutes and Little Arrows

I've been so busy this week I am lax in my scavenger hunters theme at ESN for this week.  The theme is "Arrow".  I don't have anything at Le Petit Marché that has to do with arrows, but I do have a Kokopelli metal figurine. Kokopelli is known among the Native Americans in the southwest cultures for being a fertility deity.  He also represents the spirit of music, that is why he is depicted in many sculptures playing a flute.  I believe he was a playful spirit as well, so no arrows for this guy!

Kokopelli Metal Figurine 

I then continued my search for arrows at my fellow scavenger hunters stores and when I came to Bargain Express I found an old vinyl record (remember those?!)  from the 1960's by a guy named Leapy Lee.  His record was titled "Little Arrows".  He was born Graham Pulleyblank in Britain but changed his name to Lee Graham (good move Leapy!).  Little Arrows became a big hit in the UK in 1968 and was a chart topper.  It came in 16th in the US.  He never reached the pop charts here again, but I guess he did okay back home for awhile.  So if you're looking for a little nostalgia stop on by Bargain Express and check Leapy Lee and "Little Arrows" out.  And visit all of us at Ecrater Stores Network!

Little Arrows Leapy Lee Vinyl Record

End of the Clowns...

No, I don't mean it literally, although I get the feeling most of the world does not love a clown!  Seems most people loathe them and are afraid of them.  I, personally, think they are just unfunny, or worse, pathetic.  I won't name names of famous clowns that were just that, but the only clown who wasn't really a clown but did a terrific job of being a clown: Carol Burnett.   As a kid we watched her weekly variety show and she was hilarious, no matter what she did.  What a talent and creative woman! 

Speaking of clowns though I do love the song "Send In The Clowns", written by Stephen Sondheim in 1973, and performed by numerous artists and was featured on Broadway and other venues throughout the years is a sad bit, but beautiful just the same.  "Maybe there ought to be clowns.... quick send in the clowns, don't bother, maybe they're already here...."  there's a few different versions of this verse but I chose this one.  My favorite singers of this song being Judy Collins and Barbra Streisand.

Finishing up the ESN theme of the week for "clown" I found the perfect clown at Bargain Express who depicts  the sadness (or scariness) (which actually scares the hell out of me!)  Please enjoy this lovely clown and all the other clownish items at my fellow ESN store merchants.  They have great stuff! 

Let the Clowns In.... Or not...

Clowns, you love them or you hate them or you are frightened by them (which means you have a love/hate relationship with them, really, ask your therapist! ).  I mean, remember "IT" from Stephen King?  You can't get away from "Pennywise" if you've seen the movie.  In fact I happen to see it again this past Halloween.  Less scarier than it was, what about 22 years ago or so?  I grew up! :) 
And then again, you can fall in love with a clown, especially if it's in the form of an adorable Precious Moments clown figurine at  Le Petit Marché She's adorable isn't she?  Not scary at all!

Precious Moments - Clowns Porcelain Figure - 1984

 
 Clown is the theme for this weeks scavenger hunters at ESN, so as usual I jump in as best I can. And here is my lovely contribution.

Wind Damage, Protect Yourself

The east coast is suffering so much damage and strife, it's really quite sad and I can't seem to really grasp it all.  I can't believe the Atlantic City boardwalk is gone....an American icon since around 1887,  I spent so much of my adolescent life there (no, of course not in 1887, I'm not THAT old!)  Plus, I still haven't been able to reach my mother in PA.  I did google a map of her area and as of last night there were still over 9,000 people in her county without power.  I suppose if things were worse someone would have called me.  She is elderly, but has a great network of younger friends who look after her, I am confident all of them are fine. But, I am human and I love my mom, so,  I still worry....

To keep my mind focused on day to day life I am finishing up on the ESN scavenger hunters of the week theme of "wind".   Well.... that theme was very well timed, if unintentional.  So no matter where you are it is November now, starting to get cold and windy (of course!), maybe snow, maybe rain but I found a nice set of hat and scarf from Eccentric Thrifter.  She also has many other designs of scarves, hats, caps,etc.  And while shopping, visit the other fine merchants at ESN, maybe you'll find something to soothe a soul for any family you may have on the east coast. 

Handmade Hat Scarf Set Orange Brown