...when will I get used to it?!??

This Blog Entry is Dedicated to all my Southern Buddies who get excited about wearing 'jackets'...


Halloween started out splendidly with a visit from the Great Pumpkin, and then an early morning trip to The Market (as in Flea!). OH Baby was it COLD in those buildings though!! ...and the open air pavilions - forget it! Even 'I' am not enough of a die-hard junker for that nonsense!

Want to see what $3.65 bought me?

Pastel Blue w/ flower Bed Lamp...drawer organizer (aka: antique muffin tin)

SWEATER CLIP (2010 #17)

Aqua Enamel & Silverplate HEIRLOOM bowl

Signed CA pottery studio dish

2 hankies, rhinestone pin, Halloween Cat, 3 old porc. doorknobs and a fold-up rule (forgot to photo!)

While I was jostling with ladies in oversized 'PUMPKIN' costumes, pushing their way into places they obviously shouldn't fit... DH was off scanning the HAEGER scene and pounced on these two...

ROYAL HAEGER (2010 #33) $4

Mauve Agate Cloud tight

ROYAL HAEGER (2010 #34) $5

Gold Tweed

Following Market we warmed up with a yummy breakfast & HOT coffee ~ then headed home... only to have the skies open up with this white stuff coming down and bouncing off of the hood of the Subaru! I know. I know. I live in Central NY, it's the end of October, it's bound to happen, get over it. ...but by 6:30 pm when it was getting dark and we should have had cute little trick-or-treators ringing our doorbell, this is what my Trailblazer looked like...

Okay. I'm done whining.

I PROMISE not to make a habit of talking 'weather'!

The snow has started...

Bring on NOVEMBER

and

Let the caroling begin!

...THE GREAT PUMPKIN ARRIVED!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!Guess who came to see me last night...

THE GREAT PUMPKIN!!!!

He brought me all of MY Favorite Treats!


'GLOW-IN-THE-DARK' - Who Knew?

A Bobble-head GHOST full of JELLY BEANS - Black Licorice - YUM!! This guy will be 'tucked' away and maybe someday he will be found at a year 2085 Rummage Sale and the Ladies there will be coveting him like I did this little guy below earlier this Summer. Do you suppose they will still have 'Rummage Sales' in 2085?

...and OH, does THEE GREAT PUMPKIN know me, or what?!

HOWEVER YOU MAY CHOOSE TO CELEBRATE THE DAY - I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A

WONDERFUL HALLOWEEN!!

(I just heard on our news that tonight it is supposed to be down to 20deg. and officially the end of the 'growing season' - how appropriate for Halloween which in some cultures was viewed as the end of the Harvest Festival!)

...Together we are at our BEST.

OCTOBER 27, 2001

"...I'm gonna be there in the morning

I'm gonna be there in the night

Gonna be your lover

Gonna be your friend

Gonna be there 'till the end."

(I WANNA BE THERE; Blessid Union of Souls)

*DISCLAIMER: YES, BAREFOOT ON YOUR WEDDING DAY 'MAY' BE A SERIOUS FASHION FAUX PAS... BUT IT WAS ONLY AT THE PARK! I WAS NOT GOING TO HAVE SOGGY WET FEET FOR THE RECEPTION OR RISK SLIPPING ON WET/ICY LEAVE AND SPOILING MOM'S 50YR OLD DRESS - BESIDES, BAREFOOT WAS MUCH MORE COMFY AND NATURAL FOR ME 8-).

...made in The U.S.A.!

DH & I usually 'go-away' for our anniversary, but this year our schedule only allowed a 'day trip' on Saturday...

A 'Day Trip of MY CHOICE' 8-)... (oh, when will that boy learn?!?)

DESTINATION: Zippo/Case Museum; Bradford, PA (I've wanted to go check it out since I read about it several years ago, and had never made it down there...)

Enroute were several of my old stomping grounds (Alfred Alumni!) that I thought DH might enjoy...

including a stop for tastings at CUBA CHEESE, and Breakfast at SPRAGUE'S MAPLE PANCAKE HOUSE - Yum!

Then, we finally made it!

After 'eating' our way through the Southern Tier of New York, we DID make it to Zippo (Lighter) / Case (Knife) Museum! If any of you are ever so inclined - it is a VERY INFORMATIVE self-guided tour!

We didn't make any major ZIPPO or CASE purchases, but I was really happy that I had thought at the last minute to take along an old ZIPPO lighter of my Dad's that I had tucked away! ZIPPO has a lifetime warrantee on all of their lighters, and I'd read on their website that they will do any repairs for you at the museum where you can watch. Dad's was in pretty rough shape, and I thought this would be a good learning tool - and that it was! When we got there I discovered the 'repair shop' is only open M-F, and since it was Sat. I thought that I would probably have to leave the lighter for repair, but the self-proclaimed 'Girly Girl' at the check-out counter was Wonderful! She took the lighter apart, cleaned it, replaced the flint, cleaned the cotton, added fluid - all the while instructing me as she went along! Then she gave me a booklet that showed me how to read/decipher the ZIPPO dating system on the bottom of lighters - "OH, THIS IS AN OLD ONE! 1982!"~DH & I could barely keep straight faces until we got outside, where we both laughed so hard we were almost in tears... but I guess the lighter was older than her.

WONDERFUL background info!!

Then, DH mentioned that at Sprague's he had seen a pamphlet on an antique mall in 'Salamanca?' - Had I ever heard of it?

EVER HEARD OF IT?!! YEH! (I 'was' going to spare him this 1,000 dealer mall that I had always heard of, but NEVER been to, but since HE mentioned it....!)

...and we ONLY spent 1hour and 20 minutes

and look at the damage we did...

(ROYAL HAEGER by ROYAL HICKMAN, 2010 #25)
CLOUDY BLUE ("TIGHT")

(ROYAL HAEGER; 2010 #26 & 27)

My beloved Mandaring Orange
which, of course, induced MORE playing with the now infamous 'ashtray rack'...

(ROYAL HAEGER 2010 #28 & #29)

A 'new to our collection' glaze - and two pieces of it! Both from the same booth! Both very inexpensive! (Both from the same booth as the two Mandarine pieces - we LIKED that booth!)

May I introduce BLUE INDIGO.

(HAEGER 2010 #30)

One of the standard PEASANT GLAZES from the 70's - Definitely NOT one of my favorites - but an unusual piece with the lid & no chips. I can store STUFF in it! Hey, I couldn't leave it there for $2 !

(HAEGER 2010 #31)

Thank Goodness the Dealer at this booth had NO CLUE what this one was! He is part of HAEGER's BENNINGTON BROWN FOAM figural series of figural planters - there are about nine of them - we only had two, now we have THREE!!! (and he was only $12) Isn't he cute?!

AND

MY MOST FAVORITE PIECE OF THE DAY, Maybe of the YEAR...

We haven't been able to I.D. it in any of the books, so I think it is probably a studio piece...

HAEGER 2010 #32DH's Anniv. present to me.

..."I know YOU are, but what am I?" heh heh heh

...there is no way around it,I will forever be a product of being a teen of the '80's.

When I signed onto ETSY this morning and found that one of our items had been featured in a TREASURY titled "PEE-WEES-BIG-ADVENTURE", I just about fainted - what a double whammy!! Yes, it is wharped, & probably shows a major character flaw - but, I just. don't. care. - Pee Wee's Playhouse was a Saturday morning staple during our college years. It was the one (and only) thing that we would drag our sad-hungover butts out of bed at 8am for - NO EXCEPTIONS - CHAIRY! MISS YVONNE! COWBOY CURTIS! (calm down Shara ;) ).

You DO realize, this REALLY is not something I can even begin to help, I AM just a product of 'the times'. I turned a teenager in The EIGHTIES, and it was downhill from there. Jr High, High School, College - ALL The EIGHTIES. Turned legal to drink THREE TIMES in The EIGHTIES (New York kept raising the drinking age on me right after I would reach that age - 18, then 19, then 21!). First real job & Apt - The EIGHTIES.

... oh the memories...

Speaking of 'Good 'ole College Days' - it is Jack-O-Lantern time!! Does everyone have their pumpkins chosen? Sunday night we continued a time-honored tradition, started in the days of 'Alfred'...

PUMPKIN CARVING!!

Members of the 'original Crew' still attend, beverages are still consumed, seeds are still roasted (but we have graduated from the 'illegal' toaster-oven smuggled into the dorm room!), and old age now prohibits us from 'enjoyably' carving while sitting cross-legged on the floor - we have progressed to chairs at the dining table!

GET OUT THERE AND CHOOSE THOSE PUMPKINS! THE GOOD ONES ARE GOING QUICK!!

...'tis the season.

'Tis the time of my most favorite season,
when I must concede defeat... ...when warnings of frost force us to pick the last garden and put her to rest... though the new recipe for green tomatoe cake is definitely a keeper, and I did get SEVEN ripe raspberries yesterday!

...time for one last outdoor bash...
Baseball playoffs are happening... which means it's time for Fall lobster/clambake/World Series party at the house this weekend. I'm NOT into Lobster or baseball, but I'm always game for a party - so let the festivities begin! Hope everyone dresses WARM!!

Can you believe in all of my 'saling' this year I only found O.N.E. red glass candlestick holder?!!

Oh well, the search will continue!

....BIRDS are heading South...

Yet ANOTHER plarn bag complete! This one for a VERY DEAR 'sno-bird' friend who is heading back south shortly. I worked with her for years and she is like a second mother to me. We had gotten together for lunch the day before my tooth trauma and when I saw that she had photos of some of my bags in her 'brag book' that she showed all of her FL friends, I figured I REALLY needed to make her one of her own!!

(...and for anyone who ever said I cut things 'close', I'll have them know I had the bag finished at 2am, and our luncheon date wasn't until noon - SO THERE!! )

...Does a 'SET' count as just one?

The RUMMAGE GODS were very kind in deed this weekend in their offerings of my beloved

VERAs (Neumann!!)EIGHT matching napkins at one Rummage $2 (2010 #26 - this is where the set count question comes into play). In the photo it is pretty obvious where the signature is, but do you know how difficult it can be sometimes when you are bustling around at a sale to try and find the intertwined 'VERA' in her floral designs?!





Onto another RUMMAGE - love me my rummage - but anybody that has been reading svelteSTUFF for any length of time know that by now!! First stop, linen table. Do you see what I see? Looks like it, but again, MUST VERIFY!

PLEASE, PLEASE... let it be, it would fit my Dining table, I only have ONE other VERA tablecloth, it's in pristine condition, it Fall colors and it's only TWO BUCKS for the whole set!

((BIG HAPPY SIGH ))
(VERA 2010 #27)

OH, I was TRULY on overload - SUNNY Fall Saturday - brisk but sunny - just doesn't get any better, except ONE more RUMMAGE...

Off to the Linen / Scarf table I headed~
I do love ALL things VERA, but her geometric, retro and Asian inspired scarves are some of my fav's. It was a well rounded day to add these two scarves to my bounty of RUMMAGE for .50¢ ea. (2010 #28 & #29)!

I hate to admit this was just the 'tip of the iceberg' (so to speak) of what else came home with me, but that shall wait for another day!

...I hate to 'stereo-type, but who would you choose?

(misc. baubles .25¢ ea.)

I have been MIA, but all has not been quiet! I'm looking forward to October, my most favorite of months, to bring a little 'relief'! In brief... a week ago Fri I had some 'basic' dental work, which ended in 'worst case scenario' dental work for me. No 'Grape Festival' and I ended up being out of work all week. Mon. my Mother-inlaw fell, emergency room, admitted for a week stay in the hospital (broken arm, nose, etc...). Same day My Father had complications with a recent pacemaker implant and was admitted to the hospital . Well, all is on the mend... as of Friday I'm still on soft food, but I've had one round of stitches taken out; MIL has been placed in a rehab/nursing home and Dad is back home 8-).

HAEGER ( 2010 #24) .75¢

Saturday I was ready for some THRIFT THERAPY!!! A Church in town was having their Fall 'Old Thyme Fair' which includes a Rummage sale in the basement. Most of the stuff I had picked up was clearly marked, EXCEPT for a few boxes of vintage Christmas... It would be up to the cashier.

( More Holt Howard Pieces that match the ones I found a few weeks ago! 75¢)

The line was quite l.o.n.g. to checkout. There were THREE different cashiers- One line, you just got the next available cashier. With time on my hands, I was surveying the cashiers - scoping out which one I was 'hoping for' - which one would most likely give me the best price on the ornaments. In Line #1 we had the early 20's girl... just out of college? Mom making her do this? Looking a little 'hung-over', like this is the last place she wants to be at 10am on a Sat morning with a bunch of smelly JUNK! In Line #2 was the tastefully dressed 30+ something who gave the impression that her home was something that could be photographed in Country Living. Line #3 was the Sweet Old 'Blue Hair' - You know the one who prices things at sales the same way she did in the 1930's when she was retailing them at Woolworths 5¢ & 10¢ - only half that price, 'cause WHO would want that old junk??

(California Pottery TEA $1.00)

OK... So, not to 'stereo-type', but who would you have chosen?? #1,#2, or #3?

Well, I didn't have a choice.

"I can help whoever is next down here"

You guessed it. The fate of the three boxes of vintage ornaments was in the hands of Ms. Checkout #2! Oh, she was VERY NICE - I'm being way too nasty and hard on her. She added everything else up and then basically said it was out of her hands to do any pricing. ((????))
She then proceeded to call over her 'Dad'. After he finished helping a lady carry her box of goodies up to the checkout he came over and '#2' asked him what the price of the ornaments was.....(Hmmm... A 60++ Guy without a care - now THAT is who I Want pricing the ornaments!!)....

A BUCK FOR ALL OF 'EM.