More From Winterthur

Forgive me for insisting that you see
more from Winterthur. It is at places
like this that I remember how much I
love museums...especially since we got
there just as it was opening and we had the
place nearly to ourselves. Amazing!

Here we have a chest with Fractur design
on it. Mrs. Rabe wrote a post about Fracturs.
You can see that here.



What kind of bedcap do you wear?
How about this?
You know if you do not have much
heat in your colonial home you might
be grateful for help in keeping that
heat in your head...



If I were choosing dining room chairs
and these were an option...I'd get them
in just a split second!
It was love at first sight!



The colors and design in this quilt
were amazing. I just had to take a
picture for all of you talented quilters.




Ancient Birdcage.


Leaving the museum gallery
and moving into the main home...
a guided tour.

Now this is a dining room!
When Mr. Dupont planned a dinner party
the first person he spoke with was his
gardener to discuss what flowers were in
season. He then had his staff match the
china to the centerpiece.
The table is amazingly three pieces.
A dropleaf at either end and a rectangle
in the middle.
Not much was said about Mrs. Dupont so I am
not sure about her interest in all of this.




A sideboard in the dining room held a
unique knife urn. The handles of these
knives are ivory, painted green...to represent
jade. Embarrassingly enough,
I thought perhaps it was a cigar
dispenser...silly me! So glad I didn't
volunteer that piece of information in
front of our very proper guide!




The fireplace in the dining room.
Very detailed and so perfect.




I will tell you that if you walk into this
room your first response will be shock.
It appears way too busy at first glance.

The chinese wallpaper is on all four walls
and then the room is filled with amazing
furniture and details.

But what is impressive is that this is the
original wallpaper and it has not faded after
more than 50 years.



In order to put the wallpaper on these walls
it was necessary to curve the top of the room.
That was the only way to get to use all of the
paper as it was a bit tall for the room.



I am attracted to fans...
every time! These are so pretty.
See the security string.
I didn't see what would happen
if you touched them.
It was enough that Warren was
scolded for leaning on a doorway
about halfway through this
tour. It happened...really!
Poor guy!



Do you see the seat of the chair
in the front of this picture?
The upholstery is taken from a
skirt or dress that was being
recycled. Many chairs were recovered
in this manner.



This room is the area where guests
would come to wait for the time to be
ushered into the dining room.
I thought it would be a nice view
from this window, but only in the
summertime as dinner was always served
at 8:30 pm.
Really?
I always thought
people went to bed early in times before
electricity and easy lighting.
I guess this is another sign of the amazing
wealth of this family.



Mr. Dupont purchased rooms from homes that
were being torn down, brought them home and
fitted them into this building. This included
all of the ceiling plaster, wood trims, door casings
and fireplaces. The whole room.
If there was a need for something to
be filled in to match materials purchased
local craftsmen were hired to replicate
and complete the element in the room.
You cannot tell where one stops and the other
begins. It is truly masterful.






In one case Mr. Dupont purchased a
staircase and had it installed as a
surprise for his family while they were
on a cruise. I can't imagine walking
in my front door to a new stairwell
that looked like this!



And for my blog friends who collect
transferware...check this out!



This photo was taken from the tram
which takes you around the property.
It mainly tells you about the landscaping
and trees but this particular spot shows
the area that was once the main door.
They added a conservatory at some point
to this entrance, but if you could walk
straight in here you would be looking
at the staircase in the previous photo.

If you look closely you will see one window
had a balcony. This was one of the few references
made to Mrs. Dupont. Our tour guide on the tram
said that she loved to come out on the balcony
and overlook the colorful hillside in the Spring.
Thousands of bulbs are planted here and it is said
to be an incredible sight when they are all blooming.
A sea of yellow, white and lavender.



This just scratches the surface of the things
that you would see if you were to visit Winterthur.
I hope that if this kind of thing makes you happy,
you'll have opportunity to spend some time here
one day soon.

Have a Happy Tuesday!

Thanks for stopping by.
It amazes me each time someone
takes the time to leave a comment!
I am truly blessed
to enjoy your visits.

Lititz Adventures - Part Two

So when I left off last time we had eaten lunch and were well rested for an afternoon of exploration. After feeding a hungry parking meter we headed up another street and here is what we found...Cherry Acres!
Isn't this a cool silhouette of the bird metal sculpture?

Anyone need a sink? These weren't priced badly either! One of a kind!

How many birds do you think could take up residence in this?

More pretties!

The furniture in this store is absolutely gorgeous. A lot of it is made from reclaimed barn wood. Each piece is special!

When my brother and I were kids a neighbor taught us to do stained glass creations. The real ones with flux and soldering iron, the whole works. Lately, I have been thinking that it would be fun to take that up again. When I saw A Colorful Past I could not help but insist that we check it out...





Loved it!

But finally the best of the bunch, in my humble opinion. And really, that is saying a lot because each shop had its own personality and was absolutely beautiful. There was just something about English's Country Corner that said, "Welcome!"
Maybe it was these guys...

I have always loved wooden soldiers. When we were younger a favorite holiday film was Laurel and Hardy's March of the Wooden Soldiers. Maybe I imagine them coming alive as they do in the movie.
Or, maybe it was the signs...Georgia points to one here...

And then there was this one:

I wonder who that is?

I love the color combination and the textures in this photo.

Check out the floating candle with cranberries. So pretty!

The owners of this shop were so absolutely sweet! I enjoyed my brief conversation with both husband and wife. Check out the newly updated web site at www.englishscountrycorner.com .
This store lives up to the motto: We put the cozy in Country!

No day out would be quite complete without treats of some kind...usually ice cream. I know this goes against the losing weight and getting healthy goal...but the Moms were having some, hear me whine?
So, we actually found a shop having a end of season half price sale on ice cream cones! Unbelieveable !! It was their own homemade ice cream and it was good!
Last picture of the Moms...in front of the Ice Cream Store:

I think they are even better than the "roaming gnome"! Don't you?

As you can see, we had a truly enjoyable day and are so glad to have met so many wonderful folk. I wish them the best in this Christmas Season and wish all of you Happy shopping and enjoyable days poking around beautiful shops.

Our adventures in Lititz - Part One

Hear me singing..."Oh what a beautiful Morning! Oh what a beautiful day!" Really it was. Even if the air was a bit nippy.

This post is a long one. You are welcome to get a cup of something and kick back while you join me on this virtual tour.

Mom, Georgia and I piled into the car and headed down the road toward Lititz with just one stop to make on the way.
A huge barn sale.
Here is the deal on that. I forgot to take a picture of the barn sale because the deals were so good that I just got down to shopping.
But, to prove my good intentions,
here is a picture of the house that went with
the barn that the sale was in. Isn't it pretty?
(Pictures on this post will enlarge when clicked on...I recommend it!)

I thought so...snapped the picture...
and then I proceeded to get a pretty tealight holder, some wrought iron candle holders and a whole box of candy molds for just $3.00 total.
Am I good, or what??
So, any other picture taking had to be put on hold
for such serious business.

Next we headed for Lititz. Lititz is North of Lancaster City and is home to a Moravian Girls School and a very old Moravian Church.
Georgia's parents nearly sent her to school there as a young girl. They attended First Moravian Church in York all of her growing up years. Her mother was a member there until her passing two years ago. So, it was special to see the Lititz church and school as we drove through the town.

Now, understand that I have lived in Lancaster County for more than seven years and had not set foot on the streets of Lititz for pleasure. Business, yes, but not shopping. How could I have missed it? I guess it comes back to my aversion of all things "tourist". I am going to have to get over that! This town is a gem!
We found history, beauty and fabulous people there.

The event that drew us to Lititz today was an Open House of Pots by de Perrot.
This artist has talent fairly dripping from his fingers.
My brother, Allan and his wife, Beverly met Steve de Perrot at the Arts Festival in State College a couple of years ago. Steve quickly became Allan and Bev's choice for tile maker for their new home.

Let me just say that this is a real honor since my brother and his wife are both in the Art field professionally. Allan holds a Fine Arts degree from Penn State and Beverly is a Curator at Penn State's Palmer Art Museum. Allan has to be one of the pickiest artsy people I know.
He has great taste, though.


We approached the door with anxious anticipation and then were met by sheer beauty.




The yard was stunning too.



For more information about this artist and his work you can check out the web site at this LINK.

Next, we began a walking tour in the heart of Lititz.
I thoroughly embarrassed the "Moms" by asking shop owners for permission to take pictures and mention them on the blog.
The first store we visited was

This was a beautiful furniture store and the layout as well as the
furniture was pleasing. This horse was unique.

And then took a picture of the Thanksgiving Table display

If you are ever in Lititz, check them out!
They are easy to find and have parking in front of the store.

The next store we visited was mostly out of curiosity about the name.

What in the world was a Barking Lamb?
So we asked!! The owner of this store answered our question by showing us a
photo of her 70 pound poodle.
The store was named after this dog because it is big, white and very fluffy,
somewhat resembling a lamb(the dog, not the store). See its picture HERE on the web site.
Check out these hats!

And this unusual piece of furniture...have you seen one like this before?

There was an awful lot to like in this shop.
I particularly liked two chocolate sets and the Nesting Russian Dolls.
You can see them on her web site. I was busy looking and forgot the picture. Hey, I was just warming up to this photojournalist idea.

Lititz is famous for its Wilbur Buds. In case you are not aware, Hershey is not the only chocolate factory in South Central Pennsylvania.

The entire downtown smells of chocolate. Yum!
This was as we were heading into the candy store and museum area. Don't they look excited?

These are entirely edible:

And these shots of the museum area:


Want to order online? Go to the Wilbur Chocolate Website by clicking on THIS.

By now it was lunchtime. We had many choices of places to eat. Glassmyers was reminiscent of old town America. Mom told of her childhood days of playing Restaurant with her dolls and how, in her mind, this is how her restaurant had looked. A converted Victorian home made for a cozy and lovely luncheon experience. I thought of all of the Grace Livingston Hill books I have read and how this transported us into that time period.
We got there just in time because soon after the entire Restaurant was full!
I enjoyed a turkey club on pumpernickle bread. That was a first...but it was so good! A quick pic of the happy Moms as we came out for more exploration...


In Part Two of our Day in Lititz we will see more shops.

I would visit any one of the stores we saw today again...and I am sure that I will! I may become a tourist yet!

Many thanks to the store owners for their willingness to have photos snapped in their places of business. Thanks Moms for being such good sports and making the day fun!