February's last day

This morning Pennee and I worked on setting up Booth #89. (It's coming along.) We came home for lunch and had grilled cheese sandwiches. Our intention was to return and add more items to the booth, but a fine sleet changed our minds. My husband made up a big pot of homemade vegetable soup for supper as well as his wonderful cornbread. Snow was peppering down this afternoon...and more expected tonight.

Simple and Easy

Cut out special words from magazines and Mod Podge them onto smooth stones for neat little messages. I nestled these inside a white seashell. Don't you just love projects that take only a few minutes? Happy Friday, everyone!

Taking the Plunge

I am going to fill a small booth at a local antiques/collectibles store and try my luck at selling odds and ends I no longer use. Today I've been gathering stuff from closets and cabinets. Hopefully all the items will be priced by the end of the week and then hauled on Saturday. My daughter-in-law Pennee is helping me, and her enthusiasm is contagious. With her confident can do attitude we just might sell something. More to come . . .

Changes

Well, the creamers didn't stay displayed for long. I am forever changing my choices about what to display...never am satisfied...constantly trying different looks. So the creamers are back in the cabinet. Puttering and rearranging are regular activities of mine...relaxing to me...takes my mind off other more serious changes. My mom is changing right before my eyes. She is using a walker now and communicating less and less. At 86 she is getting weaker and weaker. I pray I can cope with inevitable changes that seem to be coming fast. Tomorrow I am calling her doctor because there have been grave changes over this weekend. Thanks for lending me an ear.

Gloomy Saturday

I tracked wet leaves into the house, but I wanted to take a picture of these buttercup blooms. These were the first ones in our yard.

Some Days Are Full

In the morning was my regular Friday schedule with my mom... to the hairdresser, post office, etc. In the afternoon it was meeting my daughter who was having oral surgery for wisdom teeth extraction. In the evening I was a tired Sagittarius.

Staying In

Signs of spring
are starting to show themselves...buttercups and robins.

And yet, it's too cold to be outside for long. Therefore, I stayed in and did some cleaning, organizing, and rearranging. I discovered a few items I had forgotten about since they were stored out of sight during Christmas season. I like when that happens...a rediscovery of objects. The rooster came back to the top of the refrigerator, showing off favorite colors of mine - rusty red, cream, gold, and green. The little chest with drawers was moved from entryway bookcase to a space below the kitchen cabinets. The top lifts open, but the creamers will keep it in place. On the kitchen windowsill the tiny handpainted wooden house in the teacup expresses my mood today with three familiar words.

Favorite Things

I'm afraid I have far too many. That's why I'm able to find goodies at antique malls and thrift stores. I like a lot of different things as you can tell from this list.

baskets

crocks

butter pats

cups and saucers

creamers

wooden miniature houses

books

bookmarks

old letters

birdhouses

cloches

bowls

pitchers

oil paintings

scissor cuts

hearts

candlesticks

plates and platters

schoolhouses

children figurines

sculptures

old keys

cookie cutters

vintage children's blocks

old croquet balls

garden statues

Easter eggs

Christmas ornaments

etc.

'cause I'm sure I forgot some.

Oh, yeah, baby cups, miniature chairs, postcards. . . gee, I didn't realize how many favorite things I collect. I'm sure in future posts you'll be seeing more of the stuff that's gathering dust around here. Hope you are like me and enjoy seeing other people's personal treasures and how they decorate with them. Thanks for being here.

Sandy

He Keeps Me Smiling

This little guy

is joy,

innocence,

mischief,

and

adventure

all

rolled

into

one.

Collecting

I think collecting is a pleasant pastime. Since I've been at it for years my collections are more or less finished(well, almost...still looking...can't help myself ). For as long as I can remember my mom has always had cups and saucers... a few sat on top of the upright piano we had for my early piano lessons(one of my biggest regrets later in life... stopping those lessons). She gathered more and more over the years, but many of hers I didn't like at all. In fact, for a long time I didn't understand why she collected cups and saucers...until one day I spied a cup and saucer that fascinated me due to its colors and pattern. It was made in Occupied Japan. Upon closer inspection it even had a tiny chip on one side of the cup. But I loved the delicate flowers, brought my first cup and saucer home, and was hooked! Now I have a deeper appreciation of my mother's collection. Not too long ago she wanted me to chose some from her collection. I acquired some lovely ones...all the lovelier because they came from Mom.

Listening to the Quiet

It's very quiet in the house. A sense of contentment surrounds me thinking of yesterday... our children provided a steak lunch here at home, a Tiffany & Co cup and saucer gift, and movie tickets and refreshment coupons for our Saturday night "date" to see the new Clint Eastwood film. My husband and I appreciated their efforts to make Valentine's Day extra special for us.

Valentine Thought

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Phones, pencil cups, and trinkets

That one word PENCILS said "SOLD" to me.

This flower frog belonged to my mother.

I use it to hold ink pens and not flowers.

An assortment of old keys inside this bud vase

This small desk I bought when I was single and living in an apartment.
Later my daughter used it as a study desk in her bedroom.
Now it is a writing table in the guest bedroom.


I use a small washstand as a bedside table. The phone and answering machine are not as pretty as the letter holder and vase.


One end of the kitchen counter is a message center. Blank index cards stay in the napkin holder for phone messages. The ABC pencil cup is a personal favorite. The digital frame sits nearby.

While I was sitting at the computer, my eyes fell upon the nearby pencil cup... started thinking about the other phones and the pencil cups near them...and this post you are reading started to develop. I must say I am not fond of today's phones. I miss my pink princess phone from high school days and a green and a gold one from the seventies.

Valentine Memories

From my grade school dance teacher Virginia Morgan

From my fifth grade teacher Mrs. Effie Peters

Hindsight. . . oh, if I had kept the valentines of the fifties. My older brother wishes for his long ago collection of baseball cards. Alas, we threw away many mementoes of those innocent days. Since my mom made a scrapbook of those grammar school days for me, I do have a few old valentines. In the wire basket I have a small collection of valentines from my teaching days. . .wish now I had saved even more. It's fun to look back and see what cartoon characters and pop stars were popular at different times. Also the sweet signatures of former students and occasional handwritten messages bring back days that went all too quickly.

Springlike Day

Strange to have such a mild day. . .72 degrees. . .in February, but I'm certainly not complaining. It was heavenly! I had to stop by the post office for a money order after bidding on Tracy Porter's book Dreams from Home. . . excited and eager to get my hands on it. Also purchased a few Valentine cards. . . must address them tonight 'cause special day is fast approaching. Once home I walked around outside. Oh, the flowerbeds looked pitiful. Soon I need to take away leaves that have piled up in spots. Thankfully in a few short months there will be lovely blooms. The decorative "stone" with the message was a gift from my mother who has loved gardening most of her adult life. I'm a rather late bloomer to gardening. . .understanding at last its rewarding joys. Hopefully she and I will be able to share another spring.

Friends

After a Thursday visit to the ER with my mother, it was wonderful to have two dear friends come and see me on Saturday. (Thankfully the injury to my mom's head was not deep and did not require stitches.) My friends and I shared hours of talking.We met in college and have shared our lives ever since. . . marriage celebrations, births of children, divorce heartaches, job moves, aging parents, ETC. I love that we have a long history together. Such friends are very, very special. But I am also happy that I can sit down at this computer and share with you. We may never get to meet face to face, but I know we have much in common.

Sentimental Hearts

I guess you can tell from recent posts that I'm fond of hearts. Some were given to me, and others were purchased at antique and gift shops. A particular caption in my senior high school yearbook started it all. A friend borrowed a line from Shakespeare and changed it to "Her heart is ever at your service." Since that time I have been a collector of hearts. . .brass, glass, porcelain, ceramic, wood, stone. It's a collection that has sentimental value.

Heart Narratives

friendship



vow


tender-hearted


comforting


Thanks, Misty, for the suggestion.

one photo + one word = a story






The heart hath its own memory,
like the mind,
And in it are enshrined
The precious keepsakes...
Longfellow

Hooray for Hearts

I'm happy that February, the month of hearts and Valentines, has made its entrance. The tag in the old flower frog was created by artist Colette Copeland(http://a-bird-in-the-hand.blogspot.com/).