...Tuesday Inspiration

AWESOMENESS IN LIFE.

...jean trauma

Today didn't make it out of the 50's here in Upstate NY. I wore shorts to work, but when I got home, I was forced to admit defeat. I pulled on a pair of full length jeans for the first time in FOUR MONTHS!! Oh, the agony of it... How does the closet manage to shrink clothes that are left unworn for over 6 wks??? I have to admit I did love pulling on a cardigan and donning a scarf again though (EBOR?!).

I had to run out and get fresh bread and lettuce for our last dinner of garden fresh BLT's and fried green tomatoes. SO... a little 'Thrift Therapy' to ease the trauma was in order! The Thrift did produce a 'new with tags' pair of Carhardt Jeans for me... I know - a real fashion statement, but any time I can find a pair of 33/34" x 36" jeans (even New Retail), I do a serious Happy Dance!!! Have You ever tried finding 36" inseams???!


Feeling much better, I decided to tackle the mall and redeem a $10 off coupon I had for Bath & Body Works. They were out of what I was looking for, but just a couple of stores down was a 'Steve & Barry's' that was having a Closing Sale 'ALL FIXTURES FOR SALE'. I 'had' to go check it out! Not a spec of clothing left. A few male mannequin torsos that I seriously considered, but then walked away from. What I did grab for $5 total was two stacks of 50+ Large (15" x 19") padded envelopes, new roll of clear packing tape, roll of double sided foam tape, new box of large black permanent markers, 6 new pairs of work gloves (?) and a new box of static wipes!!

Now 'the trauma' is definitely subsiding!

...of Concord & Niagara

Friday morning I got an early start, but I must have been on overload from Thursday... Went to 4 sales and only bought a couple of items...

A ROYAL HAEGER ashtray (.25¢). This little gem was caked with 'barn scum', but cleaned up Very nicely.

and a 'Label Gun'... not a Kroy, or a fancy new one, but the kind I used to get in my stocking when I was little, and Santa would bring me colored tape refills - How did he know when I was out of tape???

Then it started to mist/rain, but there was one 'indoor Estate sale by owner' left to go to. I walked in the kitchen door, and two rooms away this little (well, 16" tall!!) beauty was staring at me...

Yes, it is the Royal Haeger 'Winking Cat with one glass eye'!!!!!!! Of course I made a direct line to check it out - she has had her head snapped off and repaired - but that was okay, 'cause it put her within my price range - $1 !!

After my last post, I had a huge response to The Ribbons!! Apparently there are many crafty projects popular right now that include them... quilts, wreaths, etc... ~SO~ after work on Friday, I ran back (okay, 'drove' back!!) to the thrift where I had found the ribbons on Thursday, and was going to purchase a 'few' more. Of course, after trying to sort and decide, I ended up buying the whole box!! I have sold quite a few of them already, and will be putting the rest on Ebay (eventually). If any of you reading this are interested in any, let me know (with a way to contact you)! I will sell lots of 50 for $35.00 (including s&h within US). This will be for a short time, on a first come basis. I will do my best to accomodate color requests!

NAPLES GRAPE FESTIVAL: Saturday was another 'Festival' day, so saling was minimal! Woke up at 5am to rain, but we showered and ventured out anyways. Naples Valley, NY is about 1hr 15min away, so we were hoping the weather would be better by the time we got there. A stop for breakfast along the way, and we arrived about 8:30am. Early for Festival sanctioned activities, but just right to get a decent parking spot, and take off walking to the back road garage sales!! Picked up a few things at the sales, but they are even photo worthy. Here is an early a.m. shot of Widmer Winery with the morning fog lifting to expose the leaves just starting to change! The rain held off the few hours that we were there, and we got our fill of Grape cookies, Grape tarts and of course - GRAPE PIE!!! For those of you who have ever tried to make a Grape pie - you KNOW that paying $10 for a homemade one is WELL WORTH IT!!!

The festival DID provide some motivation, and upon our return home I went out to Our grapevines and picked a market basket of Concords and Niagaras to make some juice from!! YUMMY!!

...scarey combination!!

...and I'm NOT referring to my Halloween finds for today!Today started as one of those ordinary Thursdays... Got up, showered, drove to work... but by noon, it was SUCH a gorgeous day out (73degrees & Sunny - YIPPEE!!), that I decided it would be an afternoon off! I had a couple of LARGE bags of 'purge' items for the consignment shop in the trunk, so I went to drop them off! On the way, I passed the 'Full Service' gas station (unlike NJ, this is The ONLY full service one in our area) - they were having a 'sale' so I filled up for $3.51 / ga (YIPPEE!!). When I got to the consignment shop they had just finished the 'Summer' checks - and handed me mine, as opposed to putting a stamp on it. So, Nice Weather + Empty Trunk + Full Gas Tank + Unexpected $$ + A Stuff-aholic going through serious withdrawals + 5 Thrifts enroute = SCAREY COMBINATION!!!

At one thrift I saw a box tucked under a table that looked interesting, so I pulled it out - it was LOADED with Horse Show ribbons. HUNDREDS of them! All from the mid 70's, they had cool graphics in the centers. I started digging through, and found one from a horse stable in my dinky hometown ( 100+ miles away). This stable is no longer in operation, one of my brothers used to take lessons there and I graduated with the eldest son of the owner... OF COURSE I 'had' to keep digging and look for more... and buy a dozen or so! Aren't the horse graphics in the center GREAT though?! I got a few from other stables across Central NY too - do you think they'll sell on E-bay??
At the last thrift, I noticed a flyer at the check-out for a 'HUGE SALE' at Lilac Farm - a Mennonite homestead about 4 1/2 miles away. There are LOTS of Mennonites in our area, but I had never been to a sale held at one of their farms before, so off I went. A+ signs led me down some beautiful back roads that I didn't even know existed on a beautiful Fall afternoon! This was one of THE MOST Incredible sales I had ever been to! Fresh, hot fried dough (that the mother/wife kept bringing out of the house), baked goods galore, tons of plants and table after table after table of CHEAP goodies!! Yes, I had my arms (and stomach) full when I left!

Ready for some photos of today's haul??

A few things for resale, including a Westmoreland milk glass Heart dish w/ foil label (.60¢), a pair of Frankoma Mugs, a Farber pedestal, an old PA pennant, and a black glass flower frog...

Some Holiday themed items for ME... Chromex platter for Xmas Cookies (for 50¢, so much nicer than a disposable plastic and I don't care if it gets returned!); 'X' 'O' cookie cutters that I have been in search of for doing Valentine Cut-Out Cookies (I found Our initials too!); a small 'mirror mosaic' bird for Xmas decorating; vintage Xmas postcards to cut up for to/from tags and a perfect Autumn colored enamel leaf pin!

A few things for the house... I think this old glass coffee pot will be fun in our 'red' kitchen, holding pastas! Believe it or not, that wood bowl is ANOTHER Adirondack Bowl by the same maker as the bag of wood bowls I garbage picked a couple of weeks ago!

A Scandanavian bowl and Dansk cheese cutter (for resale)... Accents for next years 'Tiki Themed' porch...~AND~

As the song goes 'Two outta three ain't bad...'

Yes, 2 out of 3 of my 'perfect trifecta'...

A Fantastic Fall Leaf VERA scarf, and a matte white pedestal Haeger!

I AM a HAPPY GIRL!

...TDK

Anybody looking for a good read??A crazy - chaotic Tuesday was given a reprieve upon the Mailman delivering a padded envelope of goodness!! THE DESERT KING ! It has been a l*o*n*g time in 'the making' (I have been friends with the author since the books 'early idea stage') - and am particularly excited to finally hold a copy of it in my hands!! I have previously read 'unreleased' copies of it, so I can attest to the fact that if you are looking for a Good Adventure read this Fall/Winter - you won't be disappointed. I must warn you though, this book is a 'sticky trap' that once you start reading, you won't be able to easily put down!

...Autumn Eve

I have little to report today along the 'STUFF' category ...
but it was a WONDERFUL 'Farewell to Summer~ Welcome Fall weekend'!!

QUICK HH recap: approx. 40pp in attendance. Awesome people who are not only colleagues, but 'friends' that we 'choose' to spend time with! I do feel like a really horrible Hostess though... I was in the kitchen preparing another round of shots, chatting with one of the guys that we hang out with on a regular basis... He lit up a cigarette, and before I even had a chance to think I blurted out "Well, Mr. T----, you have the honor of being the first to ever light up in our house!". He was mortified and IMMEDIATELY went outside. It was an easy 'oops' - DH smokes non-stop, just not 'indoors' - but most people don't realize that. I have no objection to smoking, I just don't want my hair smelling like it and I don't want to have to clean 'yellow goo' off of my white cupboards! Mind you, I didn't 'spazz' on him, and I was kind of laughing when I made the comment, but He felt SOO bad - made a point of apologizing to DH later, etc., etc. I just feel bad that I made a 'guest' feel uncomfortable...

Isn't this case of 'mini' beakers that I found ages ago at a sale the cutest for shots?! The other two boxes are 'leftover' favors from our wedding - embossed with pumpkins/name/date!! All washed, packed up and ready for the next HH... Did I hear some mention of a WORLD SERIES HH???!

Saturday got off to a rather s..l..o..w.. start, but after 4 hours of: cleaning, putting away furniture and supplies, emptying coolers, doing dishes, wiping down Twister mats for storage, cleaning ashes from the chiminea, sorting empties for return, etc..., etc... . By 11:30am we were showered, ALL signs of The HH were gone, and we were ready to set out and enjoy the last Summer Saturday. Granted, not the 'proper' time to head out for saling,

~BUT~

This was the day of the Annual Pultneyville Community Sale! This SMALL town is about an hour away, on the south shore of Lake Ontario. I have only been once before, but it is worth the trip - and Saturday's weather was PERFECT!! The sales are plentiful, but it is more than that... it's a 'hometown Fall Festival' of sorts. Church rummage sales, Garden Society plant sale, sailboats on the lake, Youth groups with hot dog stands, SPCA baked goods fundraiser... . DH offered to do 'clean-up' so that I could leave at 7am and hit 'the sales', but I REALLY wanted him to go. Most of 'the serious saling' was picked over and done by the time we got there, but it was exactly how I wanted to spend the day. We did get a few goodies... The Biggest blackberry muffins ever, Hot Dogs for lunch, ...

...an Evening Primrose and Bee Balm from the Garden Club plant sale,

and a JAMES AVERY Sterling pin from a church rummage sale - half price as it was after 2:00pm!! One of my favorite parts of 'saling' is researching 'finds'! I had never heard of J.A. before, but after finally identifying the 'candelabra' mark on the back of the pin, it was intriguing getting a glimpse of the Design Theory of the artist!!

On the drive home we took numerous, obscure back roads! On one particular 'road' (one-lane, dirt!!), we were completely encompassed by SunFlowers... NOT the Sunflowers we all picture in our heads at the mention of the word... NOT the vision captured so Beautifully at MY VINTAGE SOUL ...

...but rather CREEPY, HAUNTING skeletons of the former giant beauties!! We were completely surrounded by these 'cemetaries' - both sides of the 'road', for miles!!

Summer is spent, now it is time for a New Season to enjoy!The Habaneros are almost at their Brilliant Orange Prime...

The second harvest of Raspberries is ripening...

CHEERS TO AUTUMN EVE!!

...Culmination-O-Stuff

Okay. So I have to admit, when DH mentioned Tuesday morning "What do you think about doing THE Happy Hour Friday?" - I was a bit aprehensive. Just coming off of a Four day sprint of being ill, I was a bit overwhelmed. What he was referring to was THE HH, which we try to do every summer for his work crew. Mind you, this group takes their HHs seriously - I think at HH '07, the last of the crew (that didn't spend the night!!) left at about 3am! We do it outside, so weather is imperative, and thus The HH is usually a last minute event.
Then he countered with "You won't have to go all out this year, we'll just do Pizza & Wings & Beer.". I was floored... WHAT, AND TAKE AWAY THE FUN PART????? NOT!!! We would do HH - but we would do it in usual form!

~"enjoy the process"~

So, the cleaning began (because with it being so cold nights, a portion of it will undoubtedly end up being indoors!), and shopping, and baking, and appetizer prepping, ...

Bar Is OPEN!

and rounding up all of my 'Fun Finds' of countless saling trips.... I'm kinda liking the TWISTER-Table covers!

Furniture and tables from the attic and basement, adorned with reupholstered cushions (with fabric from sales..)

Bad photo, but do you like the 'table' from my Garbage picking earlier this week? Sturdy enough to sit on too!

People always are shocked that I use 'breakable' for serving in... little do they know that in most cases 'the breakables' were cheaper than disposables would have been! Besides, they are so much FUN - what is the point of having them if you don't use them??? Hmmmm.... circles... circles... Twister circles.... are we sensing a theme here? Even DH said 'Hey, the bowls match the tablecloths!'.... 'Oh, really?'

45 minutes, and people will be here - GOTTA RUN!

... and what would YOU have done???

So, it was a l+o+n+g weekend of being housebound with a Wicked Fall Cold. SERIOUSLY! Thurs night to Monday morning without leaving the premises... NO sales, No restaurants, No errands!! I returned to work on Monday. On my drive home I pass by this 'fresh' pile of curbside 'goodies'....(re-creation - I did NOT take the time for a 'photo'... ha,ha!!!!)

It was on the opposite side of a fairly busy road, that has no place for pulling over. What to do? I was only a few blocks from our house, so I decided to continue, and then turn around and come back. When I pulled in our driveway, as luck would have it DH was home from work & outside, so I put it in park, jumped out and said 'Get in, you're driving!'. He did as 'requested', though he knew what this meant... and 'that' is never to his liking!! "Where to?" I directed, he pulled over in the exact spot, and it was ALL STILL THERE!!!!! I jumped out, quickly opened each box to make sure I wasn't hauling away anything Really Nasty....


...and to my surprise two of the three were filled with tools! NOT gross greasy/rusty prehistoric relics, but Good, useful STUFF!

Isn't this handle 'the coolest' ?!

There were several plastic bags full too. Most looked like old aluminum Pots-n-Pans, but one looked to have wicker & wood (An old Chop Bowl?? maybe??). I grabbed that one. When I opened it at home, there was one wicker basket (to 're-donate') and four wooden bowls... nothing special... Or so I thought!
Upon closer examination, they were ALL Adirondack Bowls, Inc. ! Made - where else- but our town!! I have no idea as to the age or history of this Co., but it is a new search for me!!After a brief scanning of the contents, DH and I started trying to put a story to the reason for the disposal of these items... 'So, what did she do, just put his stuff out by the road without him knowing it?' 'But some of 'her' stuff was there too' 'It is all so clean, it hasn't been stored in a dusty attic or damp basement, and finally disposed of...'

What do you guys think?

Later, I came to the conclusion, it was just a result of The Full Moon!!

...Anticipation

"We can never know about the days to come

But we think about them anyway, yay

And I wonder ...

Or just chasin' after some finer day

Anticipation, anticipation

Is makin' me late

Is keepin' me waitin'

Okay, do you sufficiently have Carly's song in your head? (sorry, I haven't figured out the 'loading video' thing yet...)

This song has been going through my head ALL DAY as I have been working out in the gardens and yard!!!

Most people don't consider me as being a person who deals well with 'change'. Yet, as one season draws to a close and we are on the eve of another, I sometimes feel like a little kid. "Is it time yet?" "Are we there yet?" For some strange reason I don't feel a sadness for the season that is about to come to an end. Yes, sometimes a bit overwhelmed with the amount of work that needs to be done before the onset of this new stage... 'Spring Cleaning' to clear out the Winter Dust; 'Clean the gardens' of their spent flowers; 'Closing the porch' before the first snow, etc.., etc..

~BUT~

Remember 'EBOR' (for every action there is an Equal But Opposite Reaction)!! EBOR is always much easier in my book when the negative comes prior to the positive! When my conscience is clear of "to-do lists", so that I can FULLY enjoy... the first crocus, the first snow fall, the first pumpkin stand by the road...

So today was spent preparing for FALL (oh, my MOST FAVORITE of FAVORITES!!)! It was a crisp day here, but SUNNY! There was a chill this morning that allowed me to indulge in throwing on a big comfy sweatshirt while enjoying a cup of joe on the back porch. Soon it had warmed enough for shorts and a t-shirt to be worn while tending to some 'to-do items' out of doors...

The sunflowers were drooping and pretty much spent, so they were uprooted and composted - but not before a few last blooms were saved! The blue bucket is filling rapidly with seeds for next years gardens!

Some more Japanese Lanterns were harvested, trimmed and tied with rafia...

Herbs were gathered and chopped for drying, and a few last tomatoes were ripe...

I may not thrive on 'change', but I do like the 'anticipation' of the new seasons!!!!

... 69... 45... 27...

...AND THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN!

We don't subscribe to any of the local newspapers, so on Wed. or Thursday each week I go online to check out the Garage Sale Ads. Beside the link to the ads, there is a total of the number of classifieds in each category. A few weeks ago, the GARAGE SALE category had a whopping '69', last week it had dropped to '45', and this week it was down to a measily '27'! Another sign that Fall is rapidly approaching here in the NE.

But hey, definitely better than Nothing! Look at this hot 'Hawaiian Stud' that followed me home!!!

On Saturday the weather Gods were not cooperating, and it was 'almost' a wash out, but I did come home with FIVE items.... and there was a blatant theme!!!

SURFS UP!!

I think it is carved in stone, next years porch will have a Hawaiian Twist! Complete with Surf / boogie board ($1) and a stack of vintage Hawaiian Cocktail napkins (.10¢)! I think my coconut heads will feel right at home!

There was no Haeger, no VERA and no sweaterclips to be had, but I did grab this sweet 'glass chain' to add to my other half dozen ...

Less to unpack, clean-up and find homes for (or list on e-bay), that is for darn sure!!

Hope everyone is surviving the Hurricane impacts in their part of Blog Land!!

...#FOUR

Ever wondered what to do with your stash of Great old buckles? I have.

Over the years I have acquired numerous Bakelite vintage buckles... Why? I don't know.

BUT, I Finally found a perfect use for them... well, One anyways!

...and with that, I have COMPLETED plarn bag #4 (yes, this 'plarn' thing is addicting)!! Another 'to do' item checked of my list during a productive Labor Day Weekend.

Introducing The Fall Line... (ha, ha). This is my custom designed WARRENSBURG bag (for ME!!) - complete with Bakelite Buckle closure. The embroidery floss 'tie string' was compliments of my niece while she was visiting a few weeks ago! I was making those embroidery floss 'friendship bracelets' back in '85 when I went to college, who would have thought 20+ years later they'd be making them again? ...still? - Does anybody else out there remember them??

You can't see it, but there is even an interior pocket for holding my 'saling necessities' (cell phone, sunglasses , wet-wipes, etc...).

Now, I can't wait until October to use it!!

...Things are as they are.

"You'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are" (Tao of Pooh)

I was 'dragging it' Saturday morning, and didn't get out as early as I prefer. I don't know what the problem was... 'lack of sales due to Holiday', 'Friday stuff overload' or just the nagging 'To Do' list in my head... BUT I just wasn't into saling Saturday! I went to half a dozen sales, and didn't purchase a single item, until I found the box set of THE TAO OF POOH / THE TE OF PIGLET by Benjamin Hoff. Yes, my library has my old, worn, yellowed, well-loved and shared copies of each... which I refuse to EVER part with... but this boxed set was only .50¢!! They had to come home with me! How could I leave them sitting there, lonely and damp in the middle of somebodies DISCARDS?! They will be passed on or shared in due time. In the meantime, they snapped me out of my Saturday Morning Daze. Some key quotes from POOH rang clear in my head (Yes, I have read this set NUMEROUS times!!), and I took it as a 'sign' to put myself out of my misery for the day! (and a reminder that I NEED to re-read them soon!!)

So, I headed home, and took advantage of the Beautiful-Sunny Day in a 'productive' manner out of doors!

Harvested some of the Japanese Lanterns...

DH noted that the 'dead stuff on top of the TV' needed to be tossed. In other words, last Falls' dried arrangement of Lemon Balm and Horehound hadn't survived well!!

~BEFORE~

Since the ARTEMESIA was ready to be picked, and I KNOW that it 'survives' much better, I figured 'No better time than the present'. I LOVE the smell of fresh Artemesia... a rather subtle version of Eucalyptus. The dried arrangements do wonders to hide the flaws in my 'heavily damaged in a previous life' mauve agate Royal Haeger swan. Here it is, back amongst some of my other pieces in the 'mauve agate' glaze that live on top of our Ent. Center...

~After~

...and OF COURSE, while I was out wandering the gardens, with 'clippers-in-hand', I couldn't resist a fresh bouquet for the porch!
So, odd 'to do's ' were crossed off my list, 2 more bags were sorted and taken to consignment, a nap was 'snuck in'... All was/is good!