...Friday re-cap!

...and what a Fantastic Friday Morning it was ~ Bright, Sunny, Warm ~
when I walked away from the Very First Sale with this incredible stash for a mere $6.00, I told myself I should just call it quits right then and there. But do we ever listen to that 'little voice' ?? Cake Plate! Milk glass with grapes! Yes, I have others. Yes, I have a weakness for these. "How much?" $1.00 . Need I say more? Abingdon pottery candlestick. Spaghetti Santa. Clip-on birds. German grape ornaments. Red glass candlestick that I have been searching for - I'll explain in a minute! Red glass vase. Christmas Raggedy. Lime-green ornaments. Chalkware elephants.

A Syrian 'Fez'? All I could think of was the old sitcom HAPPY DAYS - wasn't Howard Cunningham the member of some lodge that wore Fez???

Lesson: just because something is in a WalMart $3.97 clearance box, and looks like it should be there, looks CAN BE DECEIVING!!! As with my Lime-green tri-tiers, I bought because I didn't care if they were Wally cheapos... I liked the color, and for a .25¢~ When I open the cellophaned package at home, I realized they didn't fit quite right... OLD W. Germany, stored in the new box - gotta love it 8-)!!

(as for the grapes, when you live in the middle of the Finger Lakes Wine Country, you can never have too many clusters of grapes for embellishing gifts for visiting friends!)

FUN Alpaca Appetizer Forks that will probably become 'something' else...


I can take NO CREDIT for the following photo or space!!

This is an image that I have been storing on my computer since I first saw it last Fall. This colour combination ~red glass/orange candles~ has been haunting me!! I have been hunting...hunting...hunting... for red glass candle stick holders. I now own... ONE.

(Designer Priscilla Woolworth's Los Angeles home - from a Danny Seo Apt. Therapy Story)

Most of the rest of the day I was telling myself that I should have listened to that little voice that told me 'call it quits... NOW!!!'. I guess if I had called it 'quits', I would have missed out on my one & only other purchase for the entire day...

AN ENTIRE BOX...

Can you name that designer?

EVA ZEISEL.

If you aren't familiar with her, as I wasn't, take a minute. I had heard the name, but really didn't know any details. TRULY remarkable.

...isn't it ironic...

*Today I had one of my best 'saling' mornings in ages...

...and now I have no inspiration to show off my 'stuff' (hopefully soon!!).

*Tomorrow morning there are T.O.N.S. of street and town sales advertised...

...and I have volunteered to golf (I'm NOT a golfer) in a benefit tournament for Habitat for Humanity.

*Today I received what is probably my last paycheck from my current job (due to financial cut-backs)...

...and tonight when we went out for Chinese my fortune cookie read:

"PURSUE YOU WORK WITH ALL DUE SERIOUSNESS"

...so, I did a 'do-over' and took a second fortune cookie:

"A MAN WITHOUT AIM IS LIKE A CLOCK WITHOUT HANDS, AS USELESS IF IT TURNS AS IF IT STANDS"

I think I shall just call it quits for today, and hope that nobody is really counting on me for too much in this tournament tomorrow morning!!

...it's okay...

WHAT a fickle Day! - sunny one minute, then the sky darkens, and rumbles and it just begins to pour with little warning ~ but that's okay...

...last night we worked, and worked on the gardens and have them prepared for just such a 'downpour' - and hopefully a growth spurt!! (and I finally put those pool sticks to good use!!)

...and how can I be down when I got to witness a FLOWER on our new Angel's Trumpet plant last night?!!

Plus, it was a good excuse to stay in and bake a mulberry/rhubarb pie this morning - YUM!!

Then, find a home for a 'new-to-me' toy from Brother #2, which he brought to me when he came out for the garage sale a couple of weeks ago. It was another rescue from the infamous 'dumpsters' last winter. It was too large for them to bring at Xmas when they came, but they were able to fit it this time!! This great old Arts & Craft China Cabinet is going to be a wonderful new home to my collection of 'girlie trinkets' (ie: compacts, purse hooks, hatpins, lipstick stands, etc..., etc...). It fits in the location of my old 3-shelf Barrister bookcase like a glove - but will hold WAY MORE STUFF - always a good thing!!!!!

Here are the contents of just ONE of the shelves (I couldn't even get it all in just one photo!!) from the Barrister that I will be able to 'redo' in the 'new & improved' space 8-) !!

...and now as I glance out my window

I see the sun is shining again - at least for a few minutes, and it looks MUCH too nice to be sitting at this computer...

Hope you are having a WONDERFUL day, however you are spending your time!!

...changing of 'the guards'...

Well, maybe not a 'changing of the guards', but maybe a 'changing of the pricers' ? Friday, the yard sales were sparse, so I stopped by one of my 'usual' stuff~shops that I hadn't been to in several weeks. I scanned the 'usual' spot for the 'usual' basket of scarves. It still held the s.a.m.e. scarves that it had the previous few times that I had been there. Of late, their scarf prices had been creeping higher and higher and were now up in the $2 - $3 range, with only an occassional $1.50 mixed in. WHY? I don't know. This shop is in a College Town, and that is the only explanation that I can come up with~ because I'm sure the locals won't pay the prices. THIS local won't anyways. Not even for a beloved VERA. I still must look. After scanning the 'usual' basket and coming away with nothing, I continued on. I had almost completed my rounds when I spotted another basket on a different shelf, full of 'fresh' scarves. Marked by a different 'guard' (L-1). .50¢ !! VERA !! (2010 #16 & 17).... Oh, Life is Good!!

At the next 'stuff~shop~stop' I grabbed two old SCRABBLE games. I have been in search of these to put the old wooden letters to use. At .75¢ each I think that I did okay.

Saturday was spent gardening between raindrops, and as a reward for a productive day, Sunday we went to MARKET! Not to our usual Flea Market ~ this time, we headed in the opposite direction...

They had LOTS of eye candy!!

and I came home with LOTS of ideas, inspiration, and more 'green growies'!!ANGELS TRUMPET (Datura) ...another type of a Moon Flower /night blossoming plant that I have long admired a few blocks from our house on our evening walks!!

~AND ~

2010 SWEATER CLIP #10.

...my men for Wednesday - Chris & Carl...

Remember my 'GEMS', acquired for 'Me' this past weekend (yes, yes, while I was 'supposed' to be purging...)?
Last night, while I was preparing the SeaHorses for their first 'wearing', I noticed a maker's mark on the back 'CHRIS ANDERSON'. Ever curious, I HAD to look him up. Now my SeaHorses have a history and 'soul'!! They were created in Trinidad/Tobago and I have definitely 'bonded' with them! I'm sure his 'Caribbean-Modern Ethnic' Style isn't for everyone, but if you're into it, go check out CHRIS ANDERSON JEWELRY - he is an Amazing photographer too!!!!


During my 'clean-up', I took a closer look at my Sterling pin...
I don't know if you can read the back, but it is marked STERLING, and under it is a CA with an Arrow going horizontally through it. Hmmm... Back to the books, and the computer to see what I could find...

CARL-ART INC., Providence, RI 1936 until 1976

Not nearly as much fun as the earrings, but I still love my 'Sterling Brooch with Aqua Rhinestones'.

Hope all of you have found a few good men - at least one ;-) to spice up your 6-9 !!

...the three 'F's of holding a garage sale...

...If you HAVE to hold a garage sale, may I recommend the THREE F's that made my recent garage sale the BEST and MOST ENJOYABLE to date... FAMILY! FUN! FOOD!

(and of course the morning Bloody Mary's didn't hurt - just joking!!)

Even with it being an EXTREMELY busy Fri & Sat, Mom and I did manage to escape and hit a few other sale - hey, where there is a will, there is a way!! I bought a couple of 1985 HILO HATTIE HAWAII mugs that I need to research in hopes of resale...

... and a found a few stickpins that I 'think' I may know a good home for, just need to get in the mail (wink~wink)

What would the day be without a few treasures for ME?? SeaHorse copper earrings, Retro Aqua earrings, Sterling aqua 'gem' pin, Vintage Rhinestone Pin, and a sweet little Sweater Clip (2010 #9) - .50¢each - gotta love it!!

Now, all the leftovers have been hauled off to charity and things are returning to normal. The house seems eerily (is that a word?) quiet and empty. I've spent most of the day in the poor neglected gardens, assuring them that they are still loved...

...Amazed at how large our little tomatoe seedlings have gotten,

and surprised that the lettuce seeds had sprouted without me even noticing!!
(Yes. I DO use swizzle sticks for plant/seed row markers.)

Now I think a serious nap is in order.

Catch you all on the flip side!