A Southern Christmas!

This was a Christmas present from a friend. The hand towel shows the 12 Days of Christmas with a Southern twist! What a wonderful and fun gift. The towel reads: 

A Southern Christmas

A cardinal in a magnolia tree, 

Two delta darlings, 

Three smokin' barbeques, 

Four plucked banjos, 

Five golden hushpuppies, 

Six cotton plants growing, 

Seven footballs flying, 
Eight racecars racing, 

Nine chickens frying, 

Ten grits a-grinning, 

Eleven hounds a-howling 
and Twelve kudzus creeping

Anchor Hocking Deviled Egg Plate and Relish Plate

Vintage Fire King Deviled Egg Plate

This is a wonderful deviled egg plate in white milk glass from Anchor-Hocking Fire King manufactured during the 1950s. It measures 10" and is trimmed in gold gilt.  The underside of the plate with its  ridges is as attractive as the front. This 10" snow-white plate cradles a dozen yummy deviled trimmed all around in bright gold. There's a flat area in the center of the plate to place an appetizer such as pickles or mixed nuts. It is Just lovely serving deviled eggs from this vintage milk glass plate. 

Vintage Fire King Three Part Milk White Relish Plate

This is a Fire King by Anchor Hocking relish dish with three sections. It is white milk glass with gold accented edges. The underside has ridges in design and is  9 3/4 " in diameter and 1" deep. An impressive companion piece to the matching deviled egg plate.

Anchor Hocking White Grape Footed Bowl

Bowl showing octagonal foot

Purchased this lovely shallow bowl today at a consignment shop. The bowl is on an octagonal foot and is decorated with a raised grape and leaves pattern on the inside of the bowl. This amazing fruit bowl made by Anchor Hocking is rimmed with 22 karat gold. The bowl measures just over approximately 8" across (10" with handles) x 2½" tall. it is in perfect condition with no chips or cracks and is an unsigned Anchor Hocking bowl. This will make a great companion piece to my egg plate and relish dish with the same gold rim pattern.

Top view showing raised grape and leaf pattern

Moonstone Opalescent Hobnail Open Sugar Bowl

Moonstone Glass Sugar Bowl With a Pedestal Base

This vintage hobnail open sugar bowl belonged to my grandmother Miller. The Moonstone glass sugar bowl has a pedestal base with a white frosted top edge and two large "ear" handles This style glass was manufactured by several different companies during the 1940's and 1950's and is referred to by different names. Anchor Hocking called it "Moonstone”, a lovely blue glow, just like the moonstone it was named after. Fenton called it French Opalescence Hobnail. The opalescence has a beautiful bronze depth when viewed in the light. It is made using clear glass and bone ash is thrown into the mix to give that white opal coloring. This sugar bowl is about 4 inches wide from handle to handle, 2-1/2 inches deep and about 2 inches tall. I do not have the glass companion creamer and not sure if this is an Anchor Hocking or Fenton sugar bowl. Only she would know where she purchased the bowl or if it was a gift.

Open Hobnail Sugar Bowl

Winston-Salem Journal Review - "Annie"

'Annie' brings 'magic time' to the stage'
By: LYNN FELDER | Special correspondent
Published: November 06, 2011

Annie and Sandy

It may be a "Hard-Knock Life" out there in the world, but the audience at the opening night of Twin City Stage's production of "Annie" was on "Easy Street" Friday night.

Annie and the 11 other orphan girls set a high standard of performance in the first scene with "Maybe" (Annie's solo) and "Hard-Knock Life" (a great production number). They proceed from there to fairly run away with the show, and there's plenty to run away with: Benji Starcher's choreography is exuberant; Bland Wade's gold-and-sepia-toned sets are elegant; Justin Hall's 1930s-style costumes are pitch-perfect.

The orchestra, under the talented leadership of Margaret B. Gallagher, often sounds much fuller than its 10 pieces, and the singing is fine throughout.

Anytime the girls are on stage, it's magic time, and the same goes for the orphanage supervisor Miss Hannigan, played with wicked relish by Peggie Kaan. Miss Hannigan, one of the juiciest roles in the repertoire, loves booze as much as she hates "Little Girls." Kaan rips into her role, stomping and reeling about with one sock up and one sock down as she hectors her charges and bemoans her fate.

Hooverville

But the orphans are far too plucky to seem like victims. Annie, well-played by Beatrice Howell, 11, and the littlest orphan, Molly, played by the effervescent Isabella Ellis, lead the others in numerous assaults on poor Miss Hannigan's dubious dignity.

The villains and the heroes are pretty clear-cut in "Annie," but director Steven LaCosse stays away from comic-book characterizations and lets his actors develop real personalities.

LaCosse's opera-director hand can be seen in some wonderful ensemble staging and in his collaboration with choreographer Starcher: "I Think I'm Going To Like It Here," the number when the servants welcome Annie to her new (maybe) home; and "NYC," when Daddy Warbucks (Ken Kennedy) and his secretary Grace (the graceful Miriam Davie) take Annie out on the town.

Many of the 32 cast members play multiple roles and perform amazing feats of quick-costume change. Mark Pirolo does a fine turn as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Joshua Gerry as Rooster Hannigan (Miss Hannigan's ne'er-do-well brother) and Mary Lea Williams as his girlfriend, Lily, are deliciously sleazy and fun to watch. Drake, Warbucks' butler, played by Miles Stanley, has a grand sonorous voice.

And there's something just irresistible about a little red-haired girl standing on a desk in the Oval Office advising FDR and his Cabinet to believe in "Tomorrow."

Act I is a little long, and the energy dropped a tad before intermission, but things picked up fast in Act II. In fact, there are too many wonderful moments in this show to note them all here. Suffice it to say, it's a show that's so full of love and optimism that you will likely leave the theater feeling a whole lot of both.