Its Freezing in Wolcott!

Despite the fact that the calendar reads August 21st I have been debating turning on the heat for the last two days. Its been too cold to work outside so I have been continuing the tidying up process after QBL and my yard sale last Saturday. Those of you who have been following my blog may remember the sad state of affairs of my dining room table before I left for QBL...absolutely covered with stuff.................. Its all better now and returned to its more or less normal state. The cloisonne vase which rests on it when its cleaned off was purchased in Shanghai on my last trip to China. I used to purchase vases and such on every trip because they are so beautiful and make wonderful gifts. But over the years I found them harder and harder to find and increasingly expensive. Few Chinese go into crafts these days as they can make so much more money in other fields.

And I am absolutely fascinated with inside painted glassware...painted from the outside in with tiny brushes and is absolutely exquisite. On my last trip I could not find the glass balls anywhere. Just smaller poorly done pieces. Another dying art. Since I am a tiger collector I have several versions of this one.

On a trip to Hong Kong in the early 90's I found bamboo opium pipes which led to another collection of course. In Laos I am able to find exquisite porcelain opium pipes...some with tigers on them. I think they are illegal to bring home but I have never gotten caught.

I don't know how to use them but i am sure my friend Phonesay could explain it to me. They grow opium in the mountains of Laos where he grew up.
I am finishing up a coat made from crinkled cotton batik. It is the Folkwear Turkish Coat pattern I have made a zillion times and was supposed to be covered with molas. But when I began to place the molas on it they just didn't work so I added beads and cording and will finish it with a fancy trim made on a hairpin lace loom.