...Soon?

Spring hasn't 'quite' sprung here yet - outside...

but these Forsythia branches that I cut a little over a week ago and brought inside to 'force' brightened up my weekend!!

...at last!

FINALLY!... I got up the courage and tried soldering!! Oh yes, it's going to take a LOT of practice hours - but that's okay, 'cause I'm having fun doing it, I have a LOT of sea glass to practice on, and it is snowing here in the NE!!

...Spring?!

THAT'S ONE FUNNY LOOKING ROBIN!

...the Big T!

...and T! is for...

TRIPLE TRIFECTA plus TWO!! (not to be confuse with 'T', T. or TEA!)

Oh, what a sweet, sweet Vernal Equinox it is!THREE Haeger lovelies!

FIVE (that's were the 'plus Two' comes in) VERAS - 4 napkins (not her usual style by any means) and a rather calm silk scarf.

...and these THREE PRETTIES!! Oh, I am just-so-loving these!! Sorry it is such a bad photo! They represent each of my favorite 'categories' of my sweater clip collection - 'RHINESTONES' ~ 'SEASHELLS' ~ 'SILVER FRAME w/Vacation background' (???) . I don't really have a distinct title for the third group, but I have three others exactly like this, each has a different 'scene' (ie: cactus & sunset; Pine tree and lake; Palm Tree & water...)

So, you might have been thinking that 'triple' and 'trifecta' were redundant, but what else would you call THREE Trifectas in one morning???

A few other goodies were picked up to...

Sunny Yellow 50's plastic cannister set (for resale - hopefully this will pay for the morning of indulgence!!) and a sweet Pineapple pitcher for the 'Hawaiian Themed' Summer Porch!

Then a couple of quick stops to use some coupons that were going to expire shortly, and a 'cartridge return' check... Yielded me all this for FREE!!

The sun is SHINING. Now, all we need is to rise above 35°, and the day will be Complete!

...A Cowboy on horseback with flowers...

...What a greeting to SPRING!!

Enroute to find Corned Beef & Cabbage on 3/17, DH & I stopped at a Flea Market / Junk shop that I don't frequent often (I'm kind of leary about going in there alone!!)...A vibrant VERA scarf with stylized... Jonquils (?) $1.

A HAEGER Whiskey bottle - $5 !! In the past couple of weeks my collection of HAEGER pieces by Eric Olsen has doubled!!

HAPPY 1st DAY of SPRING!!

...Top-O'The Morning to Ya!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

...dreamin' O'Summer

SPRING HAS SPRUNG at Market! Sunday's trip to the flea market included one of 'The Crew' (friends from college) that was in town for Saturday's Syracuse St. Pat's. parade. PERFECT day at Market... sunny... not 'too' much of a hangover... outside vendors starting... and LOTS of STUFF!!!

a FUN! little Haeger BASEBALL planter ($1.)

... and a few 1960's Miller Studio chalkware wall hanging pieces to add to my collection! I DID NOT buy all of these on Sunday, but I had already cleaned & hung them before I took the photos! Ready for a tour of our downstairs 'powder room'??

-THREE LADY BUGS ($3.00 set)

TWO FLOPPY EARRED DOGS (lower left) .25¢ea

...and a PINK DUTCH COUPLE ($1.)

Last, but not least, is this pottery pitcher. Not old, but as hard as I tried to put it down, I just kept dreaming of our Summer porch, and picturing it with a BIG Bouquet of flowers... Hey, for a dollar, that a dream I'll hold on to!

...a rite of Spring!

Okay, it's true. Every year - sometime between Valentine's Day and Easter, we DO travel TWO hours for breakfast ...

...and usually wait in line for an hour...

...and then turn around and head back home!

It's not just about 'eating breakfast' though. It's about a lifelong family tradition, it's about a day of 'adventure' after a long Winter of being housebound. Definitely a JOURNEY with a DESTINATION as an added bonus! 'A rite of Spring!'.

Destination: MAPLE TREE INN - small maple shack in the Southern Tier of NY... only open for about 7weeks in the Spring while Maple Sap is running. The above map only shows the last 1/2 hr of our journey... mostly 'seasonal use only' (one lane, muddy & rutted 'paths') roads that show up on no 'real' maps!!

Prediction for Saturday was a balmy 40+deg - mix of sun and rain. ALMOST perfect! We left the house at 6am, to arrive shortly after opening (8am) - hoping to avoid the usual 1+hr. wait outside. We were in luck - only a 15 min. line!!!!

Breakfast consists of 'all-u-can-eat' Buckwheat pancakes and REAL maple syrup!! NOT the store bought stuff but honest to goodness 'boiled in the basement' sap!! Oh, and of course what is the ultimate breakfast carbohydrate splurge without a Maple Cream Sundae for dessert?!!

On the ride home, we traditionally stop by Letchworth State Park to walk off a bit of breakfast. The Fountain in the goldfish pond, which creates a varied ice formation every year - this years MUCH larger than usual... The railroad bridge, and the falls...
never stop amazing me!

The rest of the journey home is through small towns, stopping at any/all Thrift & Junk shops we spot. Many different ones yesterday which produced much goodnes!!

What a perfect time to find this "Kilt Wearin - Bag Pipe playin"Whiskey Bottle by Eric Olsen (designer for Haeger from 1947 - 1970s??, Had previously worked in England for Wedgwood and Spode). He is missing his cork-cap, but for a $1... can I really complain? I have two other whiskey bottles by Olsen, and know very little about them - if anybody out there has any info, PLEASE SHARE!!

Looking right at home with his counterparts!

'Ebony Cascade' HAEGER candle stick holder ($1.75!!!) joining a matching 'Aqua' (already in our collection!).

Sweet dark blue 'Salesman's Sample' vase (.25¢)... 4" version of the larger ones shown on catalogue pages.

Two sweaterclips (.50¢ ea) and a funky turquoise/black dress clip (.25¢) rounded out the day!!

Days like this only come once a year!

...goin' Green

It's been a CRAZY week... and this blog entry is reflecting it - what is up with these photos today?!!

(FIL and MIL were each taken by ambulance to the emergency room (on separate occassions) and admitted earlier this week - both were sprung last night. Now time to get life as I am accustomed back in order!)

Last night I realized that the stuff I had started gathering for a little festive Irish decorating, was still sitting in a pile. Still waiting... Waiting since I put away the V-day decorations shortly after the February 'Holiday'!! I decided to go with GREENS this year, as opposed to my usual orange (hey, orange is part of the Irish flag too! ...and more in keeping with my family lineage!!). VERA must be included, so I went to 'my stash'!






Oh, and what a 'sticky trap' that was!

Soon I found myself organizing by color, refolding, dreaming, redisplaying... I have now picked out VERAs to be included in three different colorways to inspire Spring/Easter vignettes, and have a stack of various shades of Green (with amber accents!) for March!


The great thing about scarves is that, though I have well over 250 VERA, they fit nicely in this FUN 12"x16"x9" zippered canvas storage box, that slides under my dresser - right next to a 'sister' box in different pattern that holds my VERA linens 8-)!!

No 'new to me' stuffs this week. Maybe today?!

...to Market, to Market!

We had tickets to today's SU Basketball game, so you know what that means!!?

SUNDAY + SYRACUSE = MARKET (of course!!)

~AND~

on our way, the OPEN sign was out at a small Flea Market - the same Flea Market where a little 'bird' had told me a VERA spotting had been made! We stopped to investigate, and to my surprise it was still there - YIPPEE! (thanks Barb!!) It is so...So...SO! VERA! A Vibrant Geometric! Happy Day - Happy Day!Our luck continued at market - A piece of Royal Haeger - no damage ($1.50)! An ECHO scarf (.25¢)! I like ECHO designs 'almost' as much as VERA, and this one is a 'Smoke Ring' style. I had never heard of this style until a couple of summers ago, when I purchased a Large box of 'new Old Stock' scarves from a long defunct local boutique. These beauties were vintage classics with original tags, and several were called 'Smoke Rings'. They are basically loops that slide over your head and 'drape like an elegant necklace'.

I also picked up a couple of 'stocking stuffers'.... soldering iron for Dad and a Raggedy Ann inspired mug for a friend who collects R.A. stuff!!

SUPER DAY!

(oh, and SU won too!!)