Journeys

Guess where I went! Walmart,can you believe that this is the view from our walmart parking lot???

Hollyhocks are just beginning to bloom I collect only the single blossoming ones. They are the true old fashion ones and they are not as heavy so you don't need to staked them as much. If you squint and look in the back ground you will see the big monster that is being built next door. I am very jealous of this as it is a garage but I think the top is going to be my neighbors studio. She is in art co-ops, she does amazing things with recycled wool sweaters. Oh to have a studio.

I got these skates at a thrift shop. I think someone decided to refinish them and then left it. I wish they had just left it. I love the blue. The blade on the blue one needs to reattached. As fast as you can say Hans Brinker it will be fixed. My grandparent's had a pond and grandpa use to skate with the all metal ones that clamp to your boots. He told us that Hans Brinker gave them to him. My grandmother always got so annoyed at his stories "Oh Lester" was all she would say.
She said it a lot He was a true Maine story teller.

I got this strawberry jar at the thrift store for 2.50. I swear that as soon as I am looking for something it appears in my thrifty journeys. I got a lot of hens and chicks and was looking for one of these but not willing to buy new. Low and behold there it is. I planted it this afternoon.

I got this at a church sale for .50 last weekend. No cover, I find the pottery maker on line(Hadley) contact them and yep I can get a cover for $5.20 but the shipping is $8.00. So I am thinking should I do it? Then I look the price of this bean pot up $50.70. I think that I will do it I plan on using it for a cookie jar inside it says "The End" and on the other side is a cow. I think a little grand baby's hand would fit nicely in that pot looking for cookies.

By Any Other Name

Yard saling on Sat. was very good. First I will show you the things I am keeping. This plant pot is large and is made of molded foam. They never punched a hole in the bottom so I think that is why they got rid of it for 1.00. If you put it outside it would drown the plants. I found a church sale and really made out well, all the vintage Christmas is from there. The blue green pot has no cover and I really hate buying things like that but... it matches the pottery I am collecting and it would make a great vase for flowers.

The Tupperware thing is full of smaller containers to hold a lunch. I don't believe it was ever used. I take a lunch to work everyday and this will come in handy for .25. The hand thrown pottery mugs, I have a thing for. I love them in all colors and shapes. I am now starting to get to many. But if you ever have guests and your drinking coffee or tea you will always know which mug is yours. And of course the light kit for .50. I am always turning something into a light. The bag of lace trim is headed for my pillow cases and if I have enough the sheets.

This is what I am selling. a real mix of things that I got very cheap. The quilt was 1.00. I am sure I will make my money back on that plus. The young queen and her prince on a coronation tin. the handles sticking out are a carving set I believe to be Bakelite handles. The print is grandma moses fabric framed. I find these a lot. there is a bag of German beer coasters, a book on dolls, etc.

It is a short week next week I am taking Friday off. We are going camping with my husbands whole family. We thought we could get set up on Friday but we can't get in until sat. So on Friday I am going to take some time to go to my daughters. We will meet up with one of my friends and go out and about. or as we say Ka-loup-ing not sure if it's a real word. On another note we have been trying to come up with a name for me since I can not be called Grammie. My daughter's mother in law already has 2 other grand children that call her Grammie. So she has first dibs on that one, I do not want to be called Nana as my not favorite grand parent was called that. My husband will be called Pepe as he is french. Not loving the meme, So we have a 6 months to figure it out. I really like ya ya which is Greek but we are not Greek but could we use it???

Have a great week!

fairy roses

My Fairy roses are just beginning to bloom I love them. They will bloom now until the first frost. Dump find, it is a pretty turquoise blue hanging pot. I believe it has some age to it but no markings. I think I will keep it and plant a flowing plant in it for the porch. The nicks you see in it are under the glaze so that was there when it was made. I also got christmas bubble lights I haven't even pluged them in to see if they work yet.

This is a trunk I got at the auction last Sat. It is small (I have it on the arms of a rocking chair).

It is about 2 feet across I think. I plan on selling it.

I haven't been able to get to the thrift shop this week because I am working so much. And I haven't been to my booth in 2 weeks but will go there tomorrow to give it a fluff and restock.

happy belated first day of summer!

Busy Weekend

Friday night we took the old fashion steam engine train into the Weirs Beach Bike rally. I had never been in all the years we have lived here. It is a little to busy for me. I don't like big crowds.
One of the girls working on the train told us that 5 people had been "mooning" the train all day.
Not ones to miss a good "moon" my husband and I are at the ready. Well the "mooners" where not there but we did see some beautiful scenery. The train goes around the lake to get to the Weirs which is on the lake.

There were a lot of bikers but nothing like other years. I guess the economy is hitting everything.This is just one little section of the Weirs.

Saturday I stayed home all day and finished up some lingering craft projects. This green house was a kit I got at a church sale a while ago. It is from Ikea. I painted it in old green and it came out kinda cute.

This is a before picture. I got the cheese holder at the dump and the two candle holders?? at a thrift store for .25. .

I painted and sanded and got this. I am on the look out for another cheese holder to make the smaller one.

On Saturday night my friend Tricia and I went to an auction. This was her first time and she took it all in. She is going back in a couple of weeks armed with all this new found knowledge. Look out other auction goers! I will show you what I got soon, most are projects in waiting.

Today for Father's day we went to Portland Maine with my daughter and her husband. We shopped around, had some munchies, and called it a day. My daughter and I talked about how now things that are regular priced seem so expensive to us. Shopping at thrift stores has made us very cheap. Tricia and I had this same conversation not so long ago.

This is what I wore today, the plaid Bermuda shorts, green blouse, green sandals, and the bracelet. Total price less than $10.00. I got a compliment from a street vendor and had to bite my tongue to keep from telling her just how much it cost me. But I said thank you and went on my way.

I haven't hooked much as I am reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It is translated from Swedish and it is a hard read for me. But I am finally getting to the good parts.

I am reading this on recommendation of another book store worker. I am a fluff reader, I read to relax and escape. My recommendation would be read Janet Evanovich by the numbers series.

You will laugh out loud. Her next book comes out 6/22 I can't wait to get my hands on it.

I want to thank two amazing women Tricia and Lisa that I have had the pleasure to meet in the past year. They are kind, sweet, funny and generous. From veggie lasagna (it was amazing) to a sewing machine for my daughter and much more in between. They make my days at work so much better. I am truly grateful for both of them.
Have a great week everyone.

Bling

I made this wreath from some costume jewelery that my mother in law had and filled in with some I had. It is a small grape vine wreath wrapped in fake pearls and then I epoxied the pieces on. It usually hangs in front of a mirror that I have in my bedroom. When my mother passed away I found lots of screw on earrings. Now I never saw my mother with a pair of earrings on ever. So not sure if it was the shiny bits she was drawn to or just a bit of a hoarder.

I hung the earrings from the loops on the shade(a horrid picture) and then I started filling the shade with pins she had and added ones I had. This lamp is on my porch and I get so many comments on it and I now have friends bringing me bits and pieces they find. I will wait until the next sunny day and take a better picture of it.

My house is tucked in the woods on a dead end street. It is usually so quiet and lately work has been the pits and I count on my house to help me de-stress. The guy next door is building a barn and the land in the back is being selectively logged. Not so quiet. The only good thing is we are super shady and when some of the towering pines are gone we will have more sun especially in the winter. Plus it is bike week here in central N.H. that means about 150,000 bikes(motorcycles) in the area.

It has been rainy so that has kept it quiet. But the weekend is 80's and 90's so they will be out in force. I am not sure if I will get to yard sale or not with all the bikes here.

We Have News!

my husband and I were taking a ride this morning and look who we met. Yep a moose, on the side of the road you could hear him chewing the grass or what ever looking around. we were the first to stop and then all these cars started stopping he kept looking over his shoulder to see if there was something everyone was looking at. It rained most of the weekend so no yard sales. I did go to a couple of thrift stores and did quite well. This chair was 5.00. The cushion needs major help but it is very old. The cushion has springs inside it.

I had some time so I redid the cushion and spray painted it. The first try the cover was to big ,the second try was to small. I will give it another try at some point but for now it is what it is.

I stopped at the dump and found a few things. A Vera Bradley purse, a rolling pin, some kids books, and a high chair. Now one would ask what would a woman of my years want with a high chair? Wellllll!

We are going to be GRANDPARENTS!!!!!!. Our (only child) daughter and her husband are expecting in January.

She just graduated with her masters last month. She and Ron will be wonderful parents and I am so proud of them!!! She teaches so she is taking the summer off to rest up.

On everybody loves Raymond, Frank use to call the baby smell the fountain of youth. I think he was right. I can't wait to snuggle a baby again.

Ideas

My dirty old dump chair is no more. Now it is a pretty green ready for fire pit viewing. This chair is plastic but is very heavy and it has a fake wood grain in it. I am sure that someone paid more than I would have for this chair.(picture looks splochy but it is not)Of course I didn't pay anything for it. I have a hint to make dinner seem like more. I buy Jiffy mixes all the time they are cheap and good. I only buy this kind and the corn muffin mix. I just picked some chives from the garden and mixed them in.

Made some honey butter. Plain old beans and hot dogs seem better.

My friend Tricia gave me these sweet dishes they are dolphin ware. Never heard of them she said to put them in my booth. The more I look at them the more I think they belong at my house. They scream summer on the porch.

Just a few finds at the thrift shop. Someone donated lots of men's Gap shirts that would fit my husband so I got him a few. I found this wind chime. it is made from old silverware that is flattened or twisted. It makes a sweet sound.

I have a cold and have been just laying around and thinking. Not a good thing for me to do. I get all kinds of crazy ideas and then I tell them to my husband and make him crazy. So I guess I truly am at the crazy house. Speaking of crazy house at 3 am my 16 year old cat knew I wasn't feeling well so she brought me a present right to my bed. You can guess what it was!! Gray, dead, four little feet. My poor husband thought for sure I was being murdered in the night. OHHHHHH big news my friend Lisa (we swapped garden plants)
got married!!! congratulations. She now has such a big name like Thurston Howell the third's wife I think I will call her lovey from now on. Hugs to you both Lisa and David!

Free Stuff

I love free! The thrifting fairy was great! (I wish the power ball fairy would show up). We went ta da dump and I found the gourd lantern which I know sells for about 40-45.00. and a bag of new picture frames like the one here, in a couple of diffrent sizes. The books are from the free box at the thrift store. wait! wait! that's not all! The plastic chair great for the fire pit sitting. I already have the paint for it. The handle sticking out is a tool to plant bulbs in your garden. and the fire screen in the back I hope fits my fireplace. If not the dump has a very good return policy. Dump guy Scott said life time return policy. (funny guy)My husband took a few things so it added up to a full truck. We look like the hillbilly's coming back from the dump. No place to put the empty trash can so we tied it down.

and a few things I paid for. I couldn't pass up the hooked chair pad for .50 I know how much work goes into that. and the hand braided chair pad again .50 and a creamer and sugar that goes with my pottery I collect 1.00. The two chair pads are headed for my booth. Speaking of my booth, I made good money once again this month yeeha!

We went to a wedding yesterday. We had lots of fun but we are tired today, to old to party. I got all dressed up with make up so it was nice to be girly, even got a compliment from my husband.
The weather is crappy and I feel a sore throat coming on. I hope everyone had a good weekend.

And if you see that power ball fairy send him or her my way.

Sweet Tea and Peonies

The pickings at the thrift store were a bit thin today. I got the chopper to resell in my booth. I made sweet tea from tea bags for the first time it came out really good. Now all of you southern ladies can make it with one hand tied to your apron stings. It was always cloudy and you could chew the sugar.

So I googled the recipe.It came out so nice and clear. I made a simple syrup to sweeten it. and big chunks of lemon yummmm! The best part is it cost pennies! My peonies are blooming, I love the smell so I floated one in a bowl that is on the famous squirrel, when the breeze comes in the window the whole room smells wonderful.