Day 198: Antique Jars and Blue Skies

I suppose if you have to work on a Monday, it is much better for it to be a gorgeous, sunny day rather than a depressing, rainy day. I mean, in all honesty, it would have been better to have that sunny day on the weekend, in place of the cold, rainy day, but such is life. C'est la vie, right?

The good news is that my boss let me leave a little early today and I was able to get out and enjoy the gorgeous blue sky and sunshine a little bit more. I took a longer route home on my bike since it was so beautiful out and still by the time I reached my apartment building I was not yet ready to enter the garage and park my bike. I decided to head over to this comic book/antique store to see if they still had this table cloth I saw there several months ago. I knew it was a long shot but I figured it couldn't hurt to try. Unfortunately I discovered that it was indeed gone. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I started to head home but then thought maybe I should ride down to one of the clothing stores that I passed over the weekend that was advertising a huge fifty percent off sale in their window. Earlier in the season I bought two super cute summer dresses there and was hoping for maybe another great bargain, like the other day. I went straight in and to the basement where the sale was being held. The first room I came to was a mini loppis, or flea market. My feet automatically took me in that room first. 

I stopped to pick up an antique, glass, canning jar. It was a bit on the large size and I couldn't really think of a use for it so I put it back down, figuring I needed to be a little bit more choosy with what I bring home. Then I turned around and spotted them on a shelf across the room. Two antique glass jars with glass lids like the one my husband's mother gave to him. I have been scouring the country looking for some, or even one, like it for a few years now. The last time I saw one was in Gothenburg at an antique store in the old town area called Haga. We were in a bit of a hurry so I didn't buy it and the next day when we returned it was gone. It was a let down but today's find completely blows it away. 

I set the two jars on the counter and said that I planned to buy them but wanted to take a quick look around first. When it came time to pay, I mentioned to the woman that I have been looking for these exact jars for a long time and was thrilled to have finally found some. She then told me that the woman selling them recently came across an estate sale with a cellar full of them and some of the jars still even had preserved fruit in them. She also mentioned that they are from the turn of the century, or early 1900's, and that they have a couple of boxes full of them down in their stockroom. 

I ended up going down to their stockroom with another employee and left with two more small ones saying that I would be back for more. I then left humming the song, Blue Skies, as I rode home. 

Our current glass jar with lid, filled with rhubarb, strawberry and cherry compote (made by my husband).

The gorgeous blue sky today with Stockholm's City Hall in the background....

  ....And for Ella Fitzgerald's version of Blue Skies.... [click here]