Tuesday, December 20, 2016

..."I AM NOT A CONSECUTIVE WRITER."

I'm back!

"MAYBE CHRISTMAS, THE GRINCH THOUGHT, DOESN'T COME FROM A STORE."
Life at the 'LastChance Ranch' has been running Full Steam Ahead!!
...now it is time to take a ((deep breath)),





HOW DID IT GET SO LATE SO SOON?
IT'S NIGHT BEFORE ITS AFTERNOON.
DECEMBER IS HERE BEFORE ITS JUNE.
MY GOODNESS HOWTHE TIME HAS FLEWN.
HOW DID IT GET SO LATE SO SOON
and enjoy the Season!





 "FROM THERE TO HERE, AND HERE TO THERE,
FUNNY THINGS ARE EVERYWHERE."
 Shows to see...








"TODAY WAS GOOD.
TODAY WAS FUN.
TOMORROW IS ANOTHER ONE."
Friends near and far to catch-up with...
(including ALL of my 'blog-land' Buddies!!)






"STEP WITH CARE AND GREAT TACT,
AND REMEMBER THAT LIFE'S A GREAT BALANCING ACT."
Decorating to be done...






"DON'T CRY BECAUSE IT'S OVER.
SMILE BECAUSE IT HAPPENED."
 Memories to love...
"Bell-tree" ('...everytime a bell rings...')
honoring J's Mom, who left us a few days before Thanksgiving; and others who will be missed throughout the holidays... 
 




 "I LIKE NONSENSE;
IT WAKES UP THE BRAIN CELL."







New 'toys' to play with...
We acquired this 'short' Concrete Bird Bath in Mid-November, and I KNEW it had to be part of our Holiday Displays... seems only appropriate it should hold a 'BIRD tree'!!



"YOU'RE IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE
FOR THE SHAPE YOU ARE IN."
Dress-Up to play...
Sesame Shimmer was Happy to model the Courtly check Apron/Chef hat that we found this Summer, as long as it included her 'Festive Beverage' - garnished by TWEED!!



"ADULTS ARE OBSOLETE CHILDREN."
Traditions to be carried on...
(Annual Cookie-Baking just came to a close - GREAT time with my College Besties!! ~ and their kiddos!)

 




 "YOU HAVE BRAINS IN YOUR HEAD.
YOU CAN STEER YOURSELF IN ANY DIRECTION YOU CHOOSE."
and a time for reflection...

"UNLESS SOMEONE LIKE YOU CARES A WHOLE AWFUL LOT
NOTHING  IS GOING TO GET BETTER.
IT'S NOT."
*Dr. Seuss said it best, and all of the quotes are his!



Wednesday, May 4, 2016

...who knew??

That some days you need to be a CHEMIST, in order to be a 'Good Junker'!!
  ...clean bottles, anyone??

...SIMICHROME.  MUCH easier than 409 or 'friction' for identifying The.Elusive.Bakelite.  !!
  Anybody have any other good 'tips' in their arsenal they'd be willing to share??


Thursday, April 7, 2016

...SERENDIPITY !




~  'SERENDIPITY' ~
GRAND OPENENING 4-16-16

J and I are excited to have some of our 'STUFF' at this new Boutique!!
If you are from the Central New York State area - STOP IN!


Wednesday, April 6, 2016

... Another one of the 'Good Guys' is gone... good-bye HAEGER.

Haeger Potteries to shut down operations after 145 years in East Dundee


Elgin Courier-News

Yes, fellow bloggers, it is a SAD, SAD day in Pottery Land.  If you would like to read the story in it's entirety...


Sunday, March 27, 2016

...S'MORE fuel.

I am smitten by 'creating' with 'Found' objects!
With the weather Finally warming a 'bit', my latest obsession is...
DRIFTWOOD.

There are So many beauties of Driftwood (besides it's naturally wondrous beauty and characteristics)....

Starting with the scenic locale's that you MUST go 'in search of'.


...and the Fun Cafe's you find (in search of Java & RestRooms!!)

~there is always the added Bonus of alternative finds (BEACH GLASS!!)
Some alternative finds, however do not come home! 
NOTE TO SELF: look more closely at that COOL piece of 'driftwood' before reaching for it - teeth and 'eye balls' are a NO! 

Nautical inspired vase
Sandpail - Driftwood PENDANT display
w/ pottery bowl for holding packaged units!

 While out combing the serene water shores that are 'Pre Season', there is much time for meditation and inspiration can strike at ANY TIME!


Driftwood stores Beautifully, and when you tire of working with it, the disposal of excess supplies is FUN and THRIFTY too...
Campfire!
ie: S'more Fuel!!

Do not fear - I have not forsaken my love of ...

PLARN!
(ie: recycled plastic bags)

~OR~

BUTTONS!

~OR~ 
BAKING!
(Easter Pie!!)
~OR~

STUFF.  
But lately our main source of 'stuff' is our Attic inventory!!



???  Does Anybody know anything about these old Woolworth tags or WilliamSonoma mini copper molds:????


 Hope you all enjoy your day, however you choose to spend it!!


Thursday, March 3, 2016

...warm fuzzy for a COLD Thursday!

Some days it's just all about THE JOURNEY!
A couple of weeks ago I went to my Parents' for a visit.
They had a couple of trash bags sitting inside their entrance, waiting to be put out for the morning garbage pick-up.  Next to the pile was THIS box for disposal...
The Parents are starting to clean some 'junk' out of the basement.  This reel-to-reel had been my Grandfather's, purchased in the late 60's, and I don't think it has seen the light-of-day since shortly after purchase! (My parents now reside in my Grandparent's home!)

I'm NOT an electronics person, but I threw it in the Subaru to take home for J to inspect...
A couple of days later we pulled it out for inspection...

 EVERYTHING was pristine, albeit musty with a stash of Corroded batteries, that LUCKILY had been stored outside of the machine!
 Plugged it in.
It ran.
Though we could make it produce no sound.
 Even with the aide of the original instructions...
no luck.
J said 'toss it'!
I just couldn't do that, so we photographed it,
 and listed it 'FOR PARTS' on Ebay.
IT SOLD!
We included a note to the New Owner, that if he found anything legible on the tape, we would be VERY interested in paying him for a CD copy of it!


 After all fees, we netted less than $5 on this transaction.  BUT, it is one less thing in a LandFill and after receiving this note today, it was SO WORTHWHILE!!

Good morning,
I've had my eye on this model for years and now that I've added it to my collection, it doesn't disappoint. Sorry to say I did not find any voice recordings that might be of family value. The tape was set up on side 2 and was blank with nothing recorded on it. What you reported as the sound being illegible was actually print through from side 1 overlapping into side 2 and playing very indistinctly, backwards. I played it from end to end, and then flipped the reels over to side 1, which is where Sue's grandfather had recordings of Chicago, The Rolling Stones and other rock music for about a half hour which I don't plan to erase -- it took me back to my high school days. The sound was deep and rich and right on pitch. The machine is in gorgeous, like new condition, and even the tape reels are the vintage ones Aiwa included as part of the original package -- I greatly admire their design. I grew up with reel to reel, and am a very passionate collector. As you can tell, I feel I hit the mother lode. Pardon my geeking out, and thank you again for the great transaction. 

                          SCORE one more for 'LastChance'!!


Wednesday, February 24, 2016

...What good IS sitting alone in your room??

It seems I'm always 'Late coming to the party', and I've just heard this CABARET song for the First time - Just.Wow.  Hope you enjoy.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

...BAH HUM BUG!

Just.NOT.right.
BAH! HUMBUG!
~OOPS~
I mean...
 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE!!
~or if YOU prefer~
HAPPY DAYTONA WEEK!
(yes... NASCAR is upon us again...)

Not much thrifting / saling of any sort happening in these parts.  So how are we spending our time?

CREATING with BEADS & WIRE
BAKING


...and our newest 'commisioned' works...

 Still playing around with proportions and tweaking more 'bits'...  Will have LOTS more to show you soon!
 (IF I don't get struck down by lightening!! ha,ha)

Be Well.
Stay Warm.
&
Love the one your With!!



Thursday, January 21, 2016

...wing-butted Cocktail Servers??!!

'Gems' like this are what keep this whole 'stuff-game' FUN!!
Just when you think you can 'dig' / 'sort' "NO.MORE!"  It helps to find a little 'nugget' like this at the bottom of a box!
'designs'
by: Frederick J. Garner

Kinda 'un-assuming', but cool Deco graphics on the cover, so I flipped through it...

Okay, you've got your retro cat staring inquisitively at the Naked lady sniffing Posies...


Very Nice traditional Deco/Nouveau designs...

How many of these designs have YOU come across in your huntings??

Okay, by now I was smitten!

The MERMAIDS!
The SWAN with the Full Moon Backdrop!

FISHIES and LOBSTERS - be still my heart!!

and Children's graphics...

BUT WAIT!
All is NOT 'G-RATED'!!


The last few pages held the....
WING-BUTTED COCKTAIL SERVER
Designs!

As the song says...
HOW BIZARRE?
HOW BIZARRE!!

 Don't be looking for this 'IDEA' book to be in any of our shops any time soon...
...because as the cover permits ~
It was made for ME - to trace & copy,
so I would hate to disappoint!!