There's No Place Like Home!!!

Isn't it the truth? We had a wonderful time at the beach. Our youngest daughter who is 21 joined us for one day and night. That was a treat. The weather was wonderful, about 10 degrees cooler than here and that great ocean breeze. I read, read and read some more. We have been going there for 5 or 6 years and I learned a long time ago to get a library card wherever we are staying and not tote heavy books. I am so glad that my husband and I have the same idea of what makes a great vacation, no stress, enjoy the sun and water, read, eat well and go treasure hunting when the mood hits us:)

It was odd though in a way, after about 4 nights we started talking about how we missed our comfortable bed (though the one we had was adequate), wondering how our cat was doing, wondering what was going on with this new blog, missing our farmer's market.....we were missing the familiar, our routines, our friends. So we decided to come home early. We did, something we would never have done years ago. The times they are changing. Every year it seems like more work to me. Packing the stuff, packing the car, unpacking the car, unpacking the stuff, grocery shopping there, then doing it all in reverse and coming home and washing everything and putting it away. My husband says that vacation just doesn't hold the thrill it did when we were working and left home to get away from it all. With retirement we have built a life that is better than "vacation" in a way. We fill our days with doing so much of what we love doing so that each day is a joy.

Something that I have never taken for granted is that huge and deep sigh that wells up in me as we pull into the driveway and the house is still standing, and we are home again. We are safe and God has blessed us with another good memory. What more can we ask?

I went to two of the shops yesterday and things have picked up everywhere in July. The owners tell me they expect an annual slow down in August with people getting their kids ready to go back to school. I am going to switch out the majority of my stuff and put in Fall. I have already changed one booth to mostly browns and yellows and people are buying it. Maybe we are all ready to put this heat behind us and bring on the pumpkins. I am! I love living in NC where we have four seasons. I thrill with the beginning of each one and love changing out my booths and my home to greet the season.

Come visit with me anytime. Leave me a comment and let me know if you agree with my findings or if you see it differently. It is a treat to hear from you!

What A Wonderful Day and More Coming!

I wasn't sure I was going to find the time to post today but here I am. I am truly enjoying reading your comments and reading blogs that are already established. Some of you make me feel as though I have known you forever. In a world where we don't recognize our neighbors at the grocery store because we have never seen their faces, it is great to have blogland to get to know one another and have a good visit. I don't want it to be just a one way visit. If you have something you would like to comment on or ask, please just leave me some words and I will do my best to get back to you. (Please realize though that I am so new at this that sometimes I can not figure out what to click on to get me where) lol.

Next week I am going to read, relax and talk up a storm with my husband. You guessed it, we are headed to the beach. Neighbors are feeding the cat, watching the house and for a week we are not going to think about yards that need mowing (well, watering at the least) nor houses that need cleaned or closets that need decluttering, or anything at all that smacks of work. We will take walks along the beach and feel the strong ocean breezes and our spirits will once again feel as though we are 18 or maybe 30 and they will soar right along with the wind. We will come home closer to each other, closer to God, rested and rejuvenated.

Now, we all know it doesn't take a beach, it doesn't take a cent of money to achieve this. All it takes is getting very quiet and going within ourselves to that sacred and holy place where we connect with God. It is in that place that all of our cares and troubles fade to nothingness as our hearts are fed with Living Water and our spirit becomes revived.

That is my prayer for each of you and me as we begin tomorrow.

A Busy Day in the Life Of .....

We ran out to eat lunch and so I could stop at King Antique Mall to take pictures. Now I have shown you 3 of my 4 antique mall spaces. When I see the pictures I think it looks so crowded. In real life when the eye can see the entire space it doesn't look quite as overloaded (I hope). I am glad to be back home and out of the heat. Aren't we funny human beings.....when it is winter we want spring and then summer hits and we start longing for fall. Is there someone out there that yearns for summer (for the heat, not to get out of school)?

I love reading your posts and comments. If I have a lonely spell I can just go to your writings and suddenly I am having a visit with someone who shares how they think and feel. It is a privilege in such a busy world. I hope you will the same way about what I share with you as the days go on.

Just Plain Country Pictures in Walnut Cove, NC

I just got home from Just Plain Country. I have two booths and three large walls there. I only took pictures of the booths and then the battery went dead....I am learning they sure don't last long. I took in three boxes of goodies plus a Princess House table lamp today. My booths are always bursting at the seams but it works for me. People must like taking their time looking through my stuff to find what they want because they find stuff in a corner sometimes that I forgot was there:)

It was fun to be there this morning. I enjoy talking to the other vendors and the customers that come in. See what you think of these pictures. Click on them to enlarge and see the detail. I hope you see something that catches your fancy and that you live close enough that you can run over there and take a look or send me a comment and ask any question.

You Never Know What A Day Will Bring !!

I got up this morning and headed to the Farmer's Market ( I really was craving tiny yellow cherry tomatoes). I was so disapointed that there were none. I headed on over to Curves and low and behold there was a box of the tomatoes sitting right there on the table. I had never seen any food at Curves before and so I asked why they were there. The answer was that one of the women had brought them in to share and that was the last box and therefore must be mine. I was beaming.....funny how good yet humbling when a wish (a very small prayer is answered) but it gets better. I asked who brought them so I could thank her. Get this, she is my neighbor and I had never met her. She lives about 7 houses down the road. I thanked her and she asked enough questions to figure out which house is mine. She told me she had more tomatoes than she could ever use and was bringing a bag to my front porch today. She told me how my house was sitting on old farm land and about the man the street is named after had passed away many years ago and all sorts of history about this area. It made my day. I wonder what it says about me that a small container of tomatoes, meeting a neighbor and hearing about what happened before I got here could make my day? Whatever it says, I am glad it doesn't a lot to lift my spirits and make me glad I am alive.

Now, on to treasures.....this is an old dough bowl.....it has been repaired on one side and the work is done very well with an old piece of metal. People never threw away much a hundred years ago, it was patched, used and passed on. Have you ever wanted one??? It's a bargain and it's lovely.

Am I Worn Out From Learning New Skills or What??

I was posting up a storm trying to get those pictures to take and I feel like once I accomplished that the wind went out of my sails for a day or two. Here I am again though. Technical things are not my strength and I thought that I would never get the picture episode figured out and I know if I don't use it I won't remember how I did it. Tomorrow or Thursday I plan to head over to my booths in Just Plain Country in Walnut Cove, NC and take some pictures to show you what is going on there. It is a huge old hardware store and there are over 150 of us vendors showing off our "stuff" on the main floor and in the basement. It is such a hodge podge of treasures that I find myself working on my booths as quickly as I can so that I can go shopping. No one loves antiques and primitives more than the people who sell them. I figured out a long time ago that antique malls would probably never survive if we didn't buy from and support each other. I haven't met 90% of the vendors there. We are apt to show up on different days to stock and so we just don't meet. There are 4 or 5 booths that I love to check out....their tastes are like mine and I love to see what they are willing to part with. I have lots of old quilts, crocheted doilies, old needlepoint (already matted and framed), old glassware, dolls, dough bowls, Boyd bears, Longaberger baskets, oil paintings and prints, crates and crocks (I love old, old crocks), handmade primitives. You get the idea, a little of everything imaginable. I try to price things as reasonable as can be because I love a bargain and I figure everyone else does. I hope I have whetted your appetite and that that you'll come back to see the pictures and leave me a comment or two about what you really like or are hunting for.

I Did It With A Little Help From My Friends!!!!

If At First You Don't Pull It Off...Don't Give Up!

Trying to get your attention, just in case you have given up on me. As I was shutting down my computer (and Shari was helping me through my agony) there was the add photo page hiding under all the other windows. I about had a stroke but counted to ten and here I am. Shari says I should be able to put all of the pictures on one blog...I will try.

Why can't I put a picture on this post......I can write in blue, red or green but when I click on the picture icon nothing happens??? Ok, I have to be humble and call the oldest daughter again (Lord, grant her patience). Well, she says perhaps the pictures are too large and that Blogspot will only grant you so much space per day. She says I may have to learn to downsize my pictures and I said I can not handle any more challenges today. I am happy to be able to post the first pictures and tomorrow is another day.

Once again, I ask for your patience as I continue trying to figure out what I am doing and why:)

Not So Grown Up: One Picture At A Time:(

I am wet with perspiration, my folder was empty when I went to download my first picture, I was in agony. I called my genius daughter in WV who spent 30 minutes with me to finally find the whole folder of pictures in the recycle bin. I thought they were lost forever and was ready for a nervous breakdown. Then just as I was sighing that they were found and I had downloaded one of them....the blog page would not let me add another image. After 5 minutes I gave up and here I am writing another blog and attempting to load more pictures. Shari did all the work on our booth yesterday while I distracted her by telling her what a great job she was doing and asking how she knew how to do the right thing so quickly and well. Finally I left before she started charging me for teaching instructions. Ok, hopefully I won't have to write 10 blogs to send 10 pictures. Bear with me.....oh dear...when I click on the picture icon nothing happens....20 clicks still nothing. Ok, I am going to publish and then just post pictures and no words. How can this be so difficult?

I Took Pictures, I Feel Like A Grownup!!

I am so excited I can't stand it. I took pictures today of my house, yard, Pilot Mountain Peddlers (where I share a booth with Shari from Homespun Primitives)
and now if I can just figure out how to get them from the folder to here I will share them with you.

First Picture, More coming!!

Can't wait to show you the first picture of a hand made Yo-Yo placemat, it measures approximately 12x18, each one is beautiful, they price at $15 each and you will love them! Only 6 are available. Shipping is extra but should be minimal.

I am only learning to use the camera today.....please be patient (and say a prayer for my daughter that is teaching me:)

Longaberger Basket Sale...Going Cheap!!

If you love Longaberger Baskets you will be happy to hear this!! I was a consultant for Longaberger several years ago and in order to remain active you had to order a couple of baskets per month. Before you knew it, I had baskets everywhere. This Saturday I am going to have a front porch sale of Longaberger baskets and pottery to thin out my collection. I have advertised on Craig's List and posted that this is not your normal yard sale that I will only have baskets and pottery by Longaberger plus some quilts and maybe a Jim Shore piece or two. I have had five people contact me for particular baskets. I don't have a clue if anyone will actually show up for the sale. The baskets are not as well known in this area as they are in the Midwest but those of us that love them, really love them. The quality is superb and you can spot one 500 feet away! I am selling at wholesale or below with prices starting at $10. You may not live anywhere close to King, NC but if you are hunting for a particular basket and willing to pay shipping, please let me hear from you!

Special thanks to you who have visited my blogs and especially to those who took the time to leave me a comment. What a treat to have you tell me where I can buy beautiful items that are on your blog!!

I hope you are keeping as cool as you can during these long and hot summer days.


Terri

Sale Days Are Here!

Hey everyone!

I got up this morning and headed to Just Plain Country in Walnut Cove, NC. It's about a twenty minute drive for me. It was already in the 80's and you could just tell it was about to get a lot hotter. I stopped at the Stokes County farmer's market which was set up beside JPC and grabbed some Silver Queen corn and some good looking cucumbers. Then I got busy and put about twenty small items in my two booths and picked up and straightened up from the Saturday crowd. People tend to unfold and examine quilts and linens and then just bunch them up and put them back on the shelf. Not good...sure adds wrinkles:( As soon as I finished my chores and fun with the spaces I started looking around to see what was new since last week. There were two vendors there putting things in their booths and one new vendor moving in. I can't believe it but I am grateful that I didn't buy a thing. I was tempted by a hooked rug for my kitchen that was marked from $40 to $10.....that is always enough to tempt me but the colors weren't really right so I passed.

I stopped at Germanton Antique Mall for just a few minutes and visited with a vendor that was changing out her entire booth. She does this about once a month and is so talented with her use of maybe 3 main colors and one theme. This month's them is country living and she had a small cabinet with punched tin door inserts and then she strung a clothes line and hung bib shorts (denim) and a red top and a yellow linen. She did the entire space in red/blue/yellow....lamps, pitchers, pictures, etc. Too cute. I could never do it because I have a larger space everywhere and probably have 100 or more items in each one.

It was a great morning to be out and about but I was glad to get home before it hit 97 and enjoy the a/c and catch up on some more things here.

I am getting excited to start on the picture taking this weekend and show you all a few things I want to share. Thank you for stopping in to visit with me and being patient waiting for the pictures to show up.

During and After the Fourth

Yesterday was a day of remembering for me. None of my children were home for the holiday which didn't bother me at all until about 5:00 pm and then the pity party began. I started thinking about how it seemed that everyone I knew had their kids close by in the same town and how everyone had to be having a cook out and how everyone were seeing their grandkids and how at least some people still had their parents and then the memories came flooding in. I remembered taking the girls to see fireworks year after year, sitting on the hood of the car and blankets and all the good times we had traveling over mountains and valleys to take the kids to my parents home in the woods. I remembered how my Dad would build a small fire and teach the kids to blow on the tiny flame to make it grow and how he would cut a stick for them to roast marshmallows and how Mom would cook our favorite foods and buy popsicles for all the grandchildren. The kids loved it, being in the country, having a real fire, getting filthy and eating until they could pop. My Mom and Dad passed away over twenty years ago but in my mind the memories are as vivid as though it was just last year. So I allowed myself to feel the grief thinking of times that cannot ever be again. My husband and I set on the sofa and talked for a long time about what we remember and what we miss even now. And then, as we often do, we started counting our blessings. All of that helped me get through the evening and then I picked up a book I had been wanting to read for a long time. It was just right for what I needed. I read for several hours and then I started planning my week in my head. I reminded myself that when I woke up this morning I would be returning to a regular schedule and that I had plenty to do to keep me both happy and busy.

We went to Winston this morning, did a bit of shopping and ate at Village Tavern. It was so hot we were ready to head home and to A/C. I started pricing items to take to Walnut Cove tomorrow morning. Two beauty shop heads that I will place summer hats on to draw attention to my booth (and trust me they will), linens, old jars, paperweights, antique rusted cookware for candles, blue jars full of marbles, old enameled roster, etc., etc. I am excited to get there, see what's missing, straighten the shelves, visit with the staff and other vendors and see what I can find from the other 149 booths. No, it won't be the same as spending time with my children but it will be another really good day and guess what.....I have a daughter coming next weekend and we will talk, giggle and eat and I will be building new memories!

Life goes on......

Finding A Treasure or Two .....July 3rd

This morning I got up early and hit the floor running! I headed out quickly to some garage sales treasure hunting. It was cool, the birds were singing and I was full of anticipation. I didn't find a thing at house number one....they were charging $40 for used (not so gently) Vera Bradley purses. I headed out into the country to an estate sale and I picked up a gallon size zip bag full of hankies and linens with no price on them. When I asked for the price the lady in charge said "Why you can just have those, Granny wouldn't have charged you a penny, she'd have just given them to you and so will I!" I don't know about you but I get a huge lump in my throat and I feel my eyes overflow when someone is so kind and gives from their heart. I swallowed hard and kept digging through the yard full of stuff. I found an old china chicken, a rusted small skillet (great for a prim candle holder), an empty glass coffee jar minus the lid, a hand made mat (don't know the proper name) but it was folded and sewed using dozens of small pieces of material and folded into tiny points all the way around in layer after layer in an oval shape, a box of new hankies, and an old Christmas tablecloth. A box full and less than $5.00. It made my day. I have the best time. Driving around, going to places I have never been and meeting nice people I may never meet again and filling my lungs with some cool sweet air after the long heat wave we have had here in NC.

I came home and made home made chili for some hot dogs for later. Made some phone calls to people I love and rejoiced in having a good day.

Pictures coming......don't give up!

News From Pilot Mountain, NC

Today I head back over to Just Plain Country in Walnut Cove and took a few more goodies. People seemed to be buying Americana and getting their homes all festive for the fourth. I took a mint condition 5 gallon crock as one of my treasures, those don't come along very often!

I left there and stopped at the antique mall in Germanton and dropped off three new items and chatted a minute and then on down the road and up the road to Pilot Mountain Peddlers. I took a couple of huge birdhouses out of there that haven't sold (shall I put them in my yard sale or just hang them on a tree on set them on a post?)
and put in a handmade child's twig chair, a little black rectangular stool (handmade too) and a red wood carryall, and 3 felt hearts. I fluffed and played a bit with the goodies trying to make it look good for all those folks coming to visit Pilot Mountain tomorrow for the big vintage car show and beach music performance. Surely they won't want to miss checking out the goodies in the Peddler shop, SURELY.

Then my husband and I went to eat lunch at Sopper's (I know it is a weird name for a restaurant but the food is very good). We usually eat there once a week so it makes going to Peddlers an extra treat.

My daughter is coming to visit me from West Virginia and she promises to teach me how to get pictures on this blog. She can't believe I have gotten this far with a blog. Every once in awhile I surprise my girls and step into the 21st century:)

Until the next time.....onward and upward!!

Just Plain Country Walnut Cove NC

Yesterday was full to the brim. I waited for a call from Just Plain Country saying that people had moved out of the space that I wanted to move into. It becomes like an airport trying to land circling planes. One person has to move from their space so another person can move in and then someone else moves into person #2's space and it goes on and on. The call came around 11:00 am. I had the car loaded and was ready to roll. I had to take everything out of my existing booth (I was moving to a larger space). I decided to keep one space and tried to change the decor in it to red, white and blue items....old quilts, pottery, dishes, flag boxes, hand made flags, throws, etc. In the new booth I put Fall items.....a 66 pc set of Pfaltzgraft Iris dishes, brown blown glass, sunflower pillows, candle holders and grungy candles, books, Black Eyed Susans, a bundle of wheat, glass jars and old dolls, etc, etc. Things are priced to sell quickly because I have a lot more treasures I want to put in their so others can buy them to enjoy. Have you ever been to Just Plain Country in Walnut Cove, NC. Not far from Winston, Greensboro and tons of little towns around it. They have over 150 vendors and two floors of treasures to look out and find for your very own. I worked over five hours getting my two spaces ready and then don't you know I went and shopped from the other 149 people:) Once I figure out how to take pictures and post them to the blog I will share what I have left behind and what I have brought home to keep. My husband says things tend to come in faster than going out.....I'm afraid he is right.

Please visit with me often and ask a question or two so that I will know what you are thinking.

Thanks for coming!!
Terri