...what better way to say it?

than with HAEGER...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

(play evil laugh)

...sun, sandollars, starfish, dolphins & 'gators

After much deliberation on a long-weekend trip for our anniversary, DH & I had decided that we would have to forgo one of our requisites - WARM (the other requisite was SEA). Due to the cost of airfares and our limited time frame (4 days) - 'WARM' seemed out of the realm of reality. ~UNTIL~

Thursday (10-23) night at 9pm we found an amazing 'last minute deal' - including airfare, rental car and 3 nights on the beach in Hilton Head, SC!! Sign us up! Plane to depart Sat. at 6am (10-25). I'm sure a lot of you Southerners are saying 'Warm??'. Well, to us Upstate New Yorkers - YES! - 60-70degrees the end of October is warm !! Just check out Barbaras post at OODLES & OODLES for a glimpse of Central NY right now!

Friday was FULL of last minute things - work, laundry, packing and OF COURSE a stop by a couple of Thrifts. You do realize 'That' IS a necessity of any crazy schedule don't you?!! THANK GOODNESS I DID! I had an ULTIMATE score of VERA - a set of SIX Dinner plates (NO Chips!!) - .59¢ each (and a Russel Wright platter!). Previously my collection only had two other pieces of VERA china (which I paid dearly for!) and one plastic VERA dish! How did I verify this blatant VERA design?

I also grabbed this great vinyl tablecloth for my 'Hawaiian' themed porch next summer, and these three awesome brooches ($1 ea). The pins I had originally intended to keep and wear, but I discovered a marking on the large rectangle one 'F.N.Co' which I have researched and found to be (Ready for your useless info tidbit for the day???)...

"F.N. Co." from the Fishel Nessler company. Operating from 1885 through 1936, Carl Fishel was one of the founding fathers of the TKF trio of Trifari, Fishel & Krussman. The F.N. Co. mark is rarely found ..."

So... I may only be keeping two of them!

ALSO in the mix of packing and readying for our journey was the finishing/mailing out of Halloween goody packages to 'the girls' (nieces) in college. One of which received an 'as requested' green plarn bag (Darn, but those green bags are hard to find in this area!!) filled with treats! That completes Bag#5!

The weekend in SC was WONDERFUL! Up every morning on the beach to watch the sunrise and pick up sandollars and seashells! LOTS of Great seafood 'eats'! Spotting starfish at low tide! Riding bikes on the beach while watching the dolphins play! (Look close! They REALLY are in the photo!!)Going for a walk and getting a glimpse at an alligator lazing around a pond (from a safe distance)!

Bare toes, warm sand and sunshine - a SPECTACULAR 7th Anniversary! Just doesn't get much better in my book!

...closing time

CLOSING TIME (Semisonic/Matchbox 20)

One last call...

After Saturday's frost, it indeed was 'Closing Time' for the garden! Monday proved to be a likely candidate with crisp blue skies, sunshine and a whopping... 60 degrees! It is always a sad time for me! Time for you to go... There is some degree of solace in trimming back the herb bed though. Some die-hard gardeners would scold me for always wearing gloves in the garden (I can't help it that I have wimpy hands and LOTS of Roses!). I DO work in my herbies without gloves on though. The smells! The feel of the leaves! With a bowl at my side for snippings of the green growies to be dried, I made it through the entire Herb Bed - chives, parsley, oregano, mint, lemon balm, tarragon, horehound, marjoram, basil - all gone. ...move it to the exits

I find working in the garden is a perfect time to gather my thoughts, and Monday was no exception. OCT. 21 is a very significant date on my calendar, and today is the Ten Year mark. It's not something me and my 'circle of friends/family' often discuss, but it is always right under the surface. 10-21-98: I was a designer climbing the 'professional' ladder. On my way home from a job, my little Cavalier was hit on the driver's side by a Moving Truck that ran a red light. Coma... TBI... yadda, yadda. I'm told that the SAMANTHA WHO tv show is more accurate than most of my family/friends would like to remember - in regards to the memory loss - luckily mine only spanned a couple of weeks prior! It's been a long haul, but I've come a long way, and started CHAPTER 2 in my life!! Sure there is some residue that I (and my family/friends) have just had to learn to deal with & compensate for ( double vision, chronic fatigue, tremors, etc...) - but at least they aren't wiping the drool off my chin anymore!! (a longstanding joke that I will probably never live down!!). As the ZEN / YOGA saying goes... "When you fight for your limitations, your reward is that you get to keep them!" I am just thankful for my family/friends who gave me the will/strength to fight AGAINST my limitations!!

Closing time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

...the GOOD kind of 'busy'!

I haven't been posting much lately - been BUSY...BUSY...BUSY - busy enjoying 'my' season, that is!! Even the 'quest for stuff' has taken a backseat to enjoying my every love of the season!!

...Sunny morning of BIRDWATCHING. The Turkey Vultures (I think?!) drying their wings in the sun on an old roof top...

...A walk on the beach.
...picking up sea glass, shells, and......gathering chestnuts! Luckily before attempting to roast, I did research and learned that this species is toxic - soooooo.... they are destined for autumn decorating!! Checking out the 'wildlife' on back road drives...

...Gathering a few last bouquets of flowers.

... 'Spicing' up the house for the Holiday. I'm generally not of the 'crafty gene', but when I saw THESE - I had to give them a try!! Hung from red Dogwood branches and added to one of my favorite mandarin HAEGER vases and garnished with a vintage paper mache' CROW decoy (dug out of a back rafter in the basement of an Estate sale for .50¢!!) - I think it's a keeper!...Annual 'Pumpkin carving' with friends of the best kind. ...appreciating our first 'real frost' (this morning!)....Okay, and there have been a few pieces of HAEGER picked up along the way on this journey!

...mystery solved.

Do you remember my 'garbage picked curbside treasure bag' of wood bowls made by THE ADIRONDACK BOWL CO., AUBURN, NY???

Through my quest for more background info on the company, I came across this blog entry in FABOOLOSITY! You have got to check out her photos - GORGEOUS!!! I wasn't able to gain any further information, but it did spur on my quest!!

This morning I just rec'd a reply from an e-mail I had sent to a historian...

"Adirondack Bowl company started in Old Forge in the mid 1950’s. They manufactured bowls made from cut sections of logs from that area. These natural round sections were turned on lathes to make bowls. I have seen bowls as small as 8" and as large as 18" in diameter.
In 1959 they came to Auburn and operated at 1-7 Columbus Street. By 1962 they were no longer in Auburn.
During their brief stay in Auburn there were occasional reports in local papers of visits from the Auburn Fireman to put out small fires in their sawdust piles.
They had no affiliation with the Auburn Button Works."

So, there you have your useless tidbit of trivia for the week!!

...((SIGH))

We're back home, unpacked, and tired...

The journey to & fro went smoothly ...

The weekend was kicked off with a celebration of my Mom's 75th Birthday...

(My Great Aunt's homemade Carrot Cake recipe YUM!!!... made once a year - usually for our Wedding Anniversary - Yes. We had carrot cake at our wedding!!)

The scenerey was spectacular as usual, the weather cooperated with only sporatic 'misting' that didn't even require us to 'think' about finding cover!

The 'Warrensburg Bag' did a super job & passed the performance test with flying colors...

(Overheard comment "Did you see her bag? I LIKE that"... okay, I admit the comment came from an 'old lady' and I'm sure she was thinking up new nursing home craft projects!)

I did manage to maintain 'some' control in my purchases... (My parents rode up with us... 4people + clothes/food/coolers/sleeping bags for a weekend + 1 Chevy Blazer = NOT a lot of room for purchases!!)

Some of the highlights included: 36 vintage hankies ($2), Marimekko pink/orange circle Skirt, vintage enamel flower pins, soldering irons (Dad's Christmas stocking goodies!), retro mugs, pink pyrex, yellow pfaltzgraff, a couple of pieces of Bennington Pottery, vintage BC cookbook (.50¢)...

It was a smaller group this year... usually a couple of my 'college crew' join us (they had work/domestic obligations and couldn't make it ); my youngest niece is away at college, and my nephew was only able to come up for the day. The 'absent usuals' were missed!

With our group having such varied interest levels in 'stuff' , we have two separate vehicles which go into town. The first leaves at 7am... for the die-hards, a later vehicle departs about 11am , and then there are those that prefer to stay at the Lake and avoid the chaos!!

Check out this photo - There is just something WRONG about a Vict. Secret 'PINK' booth at a FleaMarket!!

DH and I are in the 7am group, but, I have to admit, once we get to W-burg, we don't generally see each other again until noon! He likes the Main Street, I prefer the back roads. This year HE had all of the scores (for ME!!). I didn't purchase a single piece of Haeger or a Sweater Clip! Check out what he managed to grab during the morning hours...................

1 HAEGER ashtray and ELEVEN sweater clips!! Isn't this NASSAU souvenir clip with the enamel fish Great!?!!

Mid afternoon, after one vehicle had already headed back to the lake, we were starting to loose energy, and getting a 'bit' more selective about which sales we exerted any energy for. DH & I overheard this comment made by one guy to another, while walking a sidewalk on a side street and it made us laugh... "Once you're used to the sales, and get good at them, you can tell just by looking at them if they are worth checking out!". We decided that we must be 'getting good at them' - HA, HA!!!

...and now it is time to recouperate from a busy weekend!!

(my niece's dog - Maggie - who joined us at the Lake this weekend. She stayed with the 'Lake crew', but was plenty exhauseted anyways!!)

...Adirondack Eve

Down to the final 24Hr. countdown until departure for WARRENSBURG!!!! I can't wait!!!! This is a photo of our Friday night approach on town last year. I'm sure I've mentioned this weekend before, but in case you missed it, picture this: The Adirondack Mountains in New York, with their leaves at (almost) peak color; a cute little town in a valley; BURSTING with garage sales, flea vendors, curbside food stands, rummage sales, church ladies selling 'Eggs McMethodist' as the sun is just coming over the hills; brisk air; the smell of leaves as you shuffle through them while approaching somebodies back garage....

Accomodations?! My Brother's Lake House on Friend's Lake - about 10 minutes North of the chaos.... BEAUTIFUL!

A couple of pictures taken from the back balcony...

Can you see why I'm excited?????!?!??!?!

Oh, before I forget, a couple of goodies I've picked up already this week... (The VERA is THANKS to Barbara and a comment she left on my last post, tipping me off to it!! )

HOPEFULLY, I'll have many more goodies to show you soon!!