In a vase on Monday: red tulips, blue pot

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I have a new old salt-glazed pottery crock from the Stuttgart Saturday flea market — just the right size for a supermarket bouquet of tulips.

The market always has a lot of these pretty blue and grey pots, which were made in the Westerwald* region of Germany and range in size from egg cup to several liters.  They are very affordable: normally about €5 to €12 for those big enough to hold kitchen utensils. I haven’t found anything particularly useful online about how to assess their age. The woman who sold me this one pointed out the circular ridges on its bottom as an indication that it was “very old.”  But I’ve seen other pots labeled “antique” (late 19th century) on websites that have smooth bottoms. I think you just have to look for a pleasing pattern and patina combination.

To see what other garden bloggers have put in vases today, please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.

*between Bonn and Frankfurt.

The Sunday porch: East Hampton, N.Y.

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Home of E.E. McCall, East Hampton, New York, between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915, by Bain News Service, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The house was a split level. You can see the two-story side here.

Edward Everett McCall was a Justice of the Supreme Court of New York. He also ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City as the Tammany candidate. He died in 1924, and his seaside house burned down three years later.

Life in gardens: tea and talk

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“Picnic-style tea ceremony,” Japan, ca. 1900, a hand-colored postcard, via The New York Public Library.

It may be a “ceremony,” but I think it’s more likely an informal bite to eat after a long walk under the cherry blossoms — with lots of conversation.

Under grass

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Iceland houses, ca. 1900, Cornell University LibraryTurf farmhouse in Hlíðarendi, Fljótshlíð, Iceland, ca. 1900, by Frederick W.W. Howell, Cornell University Library, via Cornell University Library on flickr (both photos).

Iceland house, ca. 1900, Cornell University LibraryHouse covered with chamomile in Reykjavík.

Nagasaki

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Blooming cherry trees in Nagasaki, Japan, an hand-colored souvenir photo collected by Nikolaj Gerasimov, ca. 1900, via Society of Swedish Literature in Finland Commons on flickr.