Lincoln.

On our tv at the moment: 

Good movie!

Late Gift!

But worth the wait!!

We treated ourselves to a Vintage Wicker Rocker from the big sale at the Antique Mall last week.

It looks like this:

But is this color:

And tomorrow, we pick up 2  matching white wicker chairs, same pattern, same shape, just white. I see a bit of painting in my future but can't wait for our front veranda to be constructed on the new house so we can sit & watch the sunsets in comfort. 

Good news?

I'm ecstatic & puzzled all at the same time. Thankfully, my doctor feels the same way I do!

So my results from the testing yesterday came back clear. Very good news. Except that now, we have no answers. We were both pretty sure that the symptoms I am experiencing were clear & we even talked about treatment & how homeopathy could be a good fit for some of the course. We had a second possibility as well. With weird symptoms, its sometimes hard to pinpoint one & looking at a few things made sense, especially when ordering tests. 

Relieved I don't have diabetes or kidney disease, the two that we were looking at. With a large family history of diabetes, I've lived my life trying so hard to avoid this one in particular. All of my family members how have diabetes were diagnosed in their early 40's, so at 50 I feel good to have not fallen into this realm. Kidney disease would be a progression from the Adrenal Gland Fatigue I already deal with but that came back clear too. 

Happy to not have to deal with either of these life limiting illnesses. But not happy we don't have an answer. I started a new remedy yesterday to try to combat the symptoms & tomorrow will meet with my doctor again to see if we can nail it down, now that we've ruled out the two big ones! Just wish I could feel well again. This is getting old, not improving & frankly, I'm tired of feeling so crappy. It's really starting to effect my mood & while I feel blessed that I don't have anything that is serious, I'm bummed that without an answer, it's hard to imagine ever feeling well again. Hopefully, meeting with my doctor tomorrow will be more uplifting. She always makes me feel cared for & I enjoy our visits. 

I'm off to work for a couple of hours. Thankful for a work environment where working from home when we're not feeling well, the weather is not great or we just need to catch up on client case notes in a quieter place is okay & never questioned. I can't imagine having any stress about my job while being unwell. One less thing to worry about!

Catch Up Post!

 Good news: my husband's CT scan came back clear. Yes!! No mass. He is fine. We're excited!!

Waiting: for a call from my doctor. I've not been well myself. Ended up in an emergency clinic. Many tests were taken. Still feeling lousy a week later. Test results came in last night. She'll be calling me today. We know something's wrong, just a matter of the acceptable diagnosis or the "really don't want to go there" diagnosis or we have a mystery on our hands. 

Thankful: for my health care team. I have a family doctor, a naturopathic doctor & a chiropractor. Love them all for different reasons. My favorite is my naturopathic doctor, who spends between 1 to 1.5 hours with me at each appointment. She encourages me to be very active in my own health care. She calls when I'm not well to check to see how I am. She sends me emails with info on treatments or the newest info for me to read. She's personable, easy to chat with, doesn't make me feel like what I'm dealing with is because I'm a woman & at a time in my life when my body is beginning to slow down a bit. She makes me feel good for who I am. Everyone should have a doctor like this!

Off: to paint our preschool so I can keep my mind busy while waiting for her call. Life may change today, or we might have a quick answer or we might have to go back to square one. Whatever it is, I'm grateful for my team, my family & my community for the support during this time. 

Who is on your health care team?

Our Own Booth!!

We stopped in at the Antique Mall yesterday for the final day of a 4 day sale. Found a few items we were interested in, including a needlepoint sampler from 1880 & a vintage wicker rocker for our future front veranda. The sampler was set at a beginning price of $250 but at 50% off, it was a consideration. However, it wasn't grabbing both of us & there were a few things that made us not snatch it up. The size was quite small for the price (other samplers on site were listed between $45 & $76 for the same size or bigger), it had an ornate but broken frame, & finally, there was a lot of red & teal, colors we don't have in our decor. But it was a lovely picture. 

The wicker rocker was in great condition, very sturdy & comfortable, clearly vintage & painted a lovely sage green. We were running out of time & decided that we didn't have a spot to store it until our new house is ready, so off we went to our final Fringe performance for the year.  And it was only 10% off so we weren't in a big rush. 

During the set up at the theatre, the quick rehearsal of lines & then the performance, I kept thinking about the rocker, intrigued by it's look & color. Realized at one point that it would fit nicely on our back deck, under the gazebo, where it would be partially protected from the weather. Or we could put it in our front room & when we order the POD in the spring to store our extra furniture once our house goes up for sale in the spring, it could go in there. I decided half way thru the performance that if it was still there if we stopped in when we left the theatre, it was ours, but if it was gone, it wasn't meant to be but I'd know what to watch for once we move out to the country. So I let it go for the rest of the day. 

Show was amazing & everyone was happy. We tore down the set, packed it up, then bid our goodbyes to head home before the cast party. Mentioned to my dh that I wanted to stop to see if the rocker was still there & he said he had thought of the same thing while he was on stage. Love this guy!! So off we trekked, fingers crossed that in the 4 short hours since we had left the store that it hadn't sold. 

And it hadn't! So now we are the proud owners of a green vintage wicker rocker. And on sale, even if it was only 10%. We ended up paying $84 so we're very happy with the price. We looked at one last year that was really beat up & missing lots of wicker, with a broken back rocker, a very faded grey color, with lots of webs & dust. The price: $185. And it sold the day after it was set out, full price!! Ours also has a diamond design in two spots, so it's not as plain. This was our late anniversary gift to each other & we're so happy with it. Funny how sometimes purchases take time to happen but are so right in the end. 

Now the good news. We applied to have our own booth at the Antique Mall in April of 2012. They told us there was a long wait list, so we've slowly gathered items to sell but haven't gone overboard as we have limited storage space. Yesterday we thought while we're there we'd ask if we've moved up on the list. And we have! We may get a booth as early as November 1st. On the main floor! Not sure where but all I wanted was main floor. Even with an elevator & 2 sets of stairs, we do notice that some people do not venture upstairs, so main floor is the best. We're excited to try out this venture. Not to make money but for fun! Lots of work & we've talked to enough vendors to know the highs & the lows but we'll still have a big learning curve. One of my tasks today is to lay out what we have accumulated so far & start to list our  items in a spreadsheet so they are ready to go when we get the call that a booth is ours. 

Do you enjoy browsing in an Antique Mall? 

What brings you in? 

What kind of items would you buy? 

What things do you avoid? 

Have you had a booth in the past 

or do you have one now? 

Any tips you can share? 

I look forward to your comments!

Frugal Friday!

Our weekly trek to the local Thrift Store in town netted the following finds for Frugal Friday: 

Birdhouse pic. Frame to be

changed. Love the colors!

Price: $1.50.

"Home Tweet Home."

Sweet bunnies for our Easter table.

Price: $1.50.

One is a salt shaker.

The other is a pepper shaker.

I love vintage linen!

The hours someone put into this.

Price: $1.00 each.

The detail is incredible!

Would you believe in my short 50 years,

I've never had a change purse?

Love this floral, shabby chic one.

Price: .10 cents.

I picked  this up for the frame,

which I might paint white.

But decided I liked the picture too, 

so gold it will stay!

Price: .20 cents.

For C2, who loves to put

her hair back. 

Price: .10 cents.

A new teddy, for our

baby loss program.

Price: .10 cents.

Not a bad haul for a Frugal Friday shopping trip & a great end to a busy week. Our grand total was $5.50. I budget $20 a week for Frugal Friday but rarely do we get that high. Sometimes we go over but often that is only when we find a big ticket item. And some weeks, we browse, but don't find anything we need or would like to add to our vintage collection, which someday will be our future Antique Mall Booth. I don't add the remaining funds to the following week. The difference is just absorbed back into our budget for other expenses, as needed. 

Have you had any thrifty finds lately?

Linking up with The Thrifty Groove.

Wedding Rings.

Today is our 29th Wedding Anniversary. Our original wedding rings have changed but our commitment to each other has stayed strong, growing with each year. My lovey promised me a lifetime of adventure & he has certainly delivered, with more than he promised! Looking forward to our special day today, a time to celebrate & renew our crazy brand of love. 

Terrified!

My dh, my lovey, the guy I've been with since we were both 18, is off this afternoon for a CT scan of his head. He has something going on & they see a mass of some type. Thankful he got in so quickly. But terrified that something could be wrong. 

It's going to be a very long day!

Little Things Thursday.

Joining in with Kim at Little By Little who hosts "Little Things Thursday." Today, I'm sharing how our little man, B, helps us to remember that this big life is made up of many little moments. At the age of 2, everything is still so new to him, every day full of new experiences & new discoveries. The highlight of our day is when he comes home with his mom each day, full of chatter, full of sand & full of energy. We are often tired by then but he walks in the door & everything changes. He is always teaching us to stop & look & to continually be amazed by the little things!

Like the wonder of a candle flame.

And reaching new heights, even with help!

Thanks B for keeping us laughing. 

We love you to the moon & back!

My Dream Hammock!

Searching high & low for my

dream hammock. 

Like the one above. 

Lacy, light & made for two.

Next year, we'll have trees but

no grass. Flowers but no grass.

A garden but no grass.

Hopefully, I'll have this hammock.

Even without grass.

I'll just close my eyes & swing

gently in the breeze. 

And one day when we do have

grass again, I'll take a pic like the one

above & post my dream hammock!!

Summer Day Camp.

Our second grieving kids summer daycamp is this week. The first one in July went better than I hoped. This one has started out great as well, with our first day ending with a drum circle outside on the grass. Today should be just as good, if not better. Great group, great families, great facilitators!

But I hate this week as well. It takes a huge amount of planning & implementation to execute. I hate we do this because it means these kids are in so much pain. At the same time, the growth we see is incredible. The friendships that form, the free play that happens, the healing that starts as they journey through this grief, in a safe place we have created. 

Worth all the work to see those happy faces at the end of the week!

So hot!!

Sweltering heat in our area. 

Too hot to do anything!

Even ice cream doesn't help.

The welcome rain at night means scary

lightening storms & high winds. 

I'm almost wishing it was fall!!

First Visit.

 Our grandson B has

never been out to our acreage. 

We took him out today so

he can see where his new 

house will be in the country.

Riding on mama's shoulders.

The grass was too long for him!

Taking a picture so he can 

"'member" what he saw today!

B's portrait of a wildflower.

Pretending to be a sleeping deer,

while the big "guys" have a meeting!

Au natural.

Our first wood pile.

Wild sweet peas.

Time to head back out to the lane.

Love our neighbor's new fence.

We've added to the budget for

one to grace our entrance. 

See our little fence on the right?

Sad but true, that is ours!!

Cheese!

Our budding photographer.

Baby Love.

Ten tiny toes.

Ten tiny fingers.

Eyelashes.

Belly button.

All the things that make 

new babies so sweet.

Three years ago,

on August 8th, 2010,

our tiniest baby was born.

But sadly, he was too tiny.

Too tiny to take a breath.

To tiny to open his eyes.

To tiny to grasp our fingers.

Too tiny to smile.

To tiny to cry.

We miss him every day.

And wonder what he'd be

like today, three years in.

Ouch!

Woke up in so much pain. Starts in my right lower back & goes down my leg on the outside. Ouch! Hard to get out of bed & doubly hard to walk.

Hoping my chiropractor is available today!

Car Boot Sale #2.

We went to another Car Boot Sale at the Antique Mall in the city this past week. Our last Car Boot Sale was fun & we found a number of things for our home as well as for, we hope, a future booth of our own at the Mall. Not sure if we'd find any treasures but we did pretty good. Took $20 with us & came home with 11 items & $6 change in our pockets!

The "haul".

Did you know that I have an 

obsession with snowmen?

Yup, it's true. So guess what I found?

Two more!

For a grand total of $5.

A tiny ceramic scene. In our children's grief group, we talk about "nourishing the spirit" as part of our opening affirmation. This fits perfectly into that discussion. It will sit on my art shelf in the class. For .20 cents, not a bad investment to reinforce an idea!

A very delicate saucer for .50 cents.

English china.

Amethyst bottle for .10 cents. I've always wanted one! Can't wait to put it on my  windowsill with some tiny wildflowers in it.

A demitasse tea cup. For .50 cents. 

Crazy!

A true Limoges to add to our collection.

A crystal tiny platter. 

Not a chip or mark on it. 

All for .20 cents.

A handmade pillow. Complements the ivory one we bought last year with the word "Joy" stitched on it. Happy to take it home for the grand sum of $2.

Free! No markings. I was happy to oblige when 

the owner offered it to me as I admired it!

One booth, just a mere 10 minutes into the sale, was holding a sale of it's own, with most items being given away for $1 or $2, up to $10. I picked up this original oil painting. The booth owner offered it to me at $10.

See the tag!

I was willing to pay that & was 

jumping at $10. Reached into 

my bag for my wallet.

Suddenly she looked at me with a grin & said 

"but for you, because you truly love it, 

I'll let it go for $5".

Sold!

A taupe round lace doily. Hard to find this darker tone. Loving it for .50 cents. 

Linking up to:

The Thrifty Groove

A Living Space

Cozy Little House

Kathe with an E

Knick of Time

The Penny Worthy Project

Hop over to see what everyone else was able to find this week. Lots of interesting posts to read!