Lini Grol and Pyrex Double Feature

Some of you may recall how I purchased a set of beautiful scissor-cut silhouettes recently at a garage sale. When I got home, I Googled the artist's name - Lini Grol - and found my way to White Mountain Publications which distributes numerous books illustrated by Lini. I emailed White Mountain to see if I could get in touch with Lini. They forwarded my email to her, and the next thing I knew, there was an email reply from Lini in my In Box. To cut a long story short, I'll be calling her later today to see if I can visit her next week to look at her work and discuss her art. It's all very exciting stuff. I'm hoping I can write a feature story for The Star. The moral of the story... don't ever let anyone tell you that having an obsession with yard sales and thrift sales is a fruitless enterprise.

Here's a reminder of Lini's work. I'll be ordering several of the books she illustrated.
Yesterday, we celebrated my mother's birthday with a picnic at Port Dalhousie, which is part of the greater St. Catharines area. On the grounds, they have a carousel that is 140 years old. The best part is that it only costs five cents a ride.

The carousel has been lovingly maintained over the years. Paintings of animals circle the top.

Here's a look at the carousel after everyone got off.

The head of Duncan's horse. Feel free to insert your Godfather joke here.

Duncan with daddy-o in the background.

Vintage family serving dish on the left, shiny rummage sale serving dish on the right.

Before we left, I told my mom to be on the lookout for Pyrex at rummage sales. She matter-of-factly told me that she had an old serving dish in the cupboard that was gathering dust. My dad gave it to her for Christmas in 1958 - a year after they wed. It turns out that I bought the exact same one at a rummage sale last fall for $5.00. My mother's dish is a little more worn, but I like that there's a family story attached to it.
Mom's old dish is still in pretty good shape, a fact she attributes to lack of use.
I don't see how this dish could have been used at all. I wonder when they stopped making this pattern. Is it called starburst?

Clean handle and worn handle.