Treasure #4.

I'm a huge Susan Branch fan and one of

my goals is to own each one of her books.

I have a lovely little collection now and

love searching for more as we treasure

hunt! I was just about to leave a booth

at the Boot Sale, items paid and safely

tucked away in my bag, when I spotted

the edge of this book in a ratty box. Yes!

One of her books I don't have and one that

is hard to find. Price: $28.99 but I paid

just $8. Didn't even haggle for it. I'm

saving it to read later on this weekend.

Treasure #3.

I'm always on the hunt for writing paper

and this was my find from the Boot Sale.

The tag on the bottom of the box says $24.99

but I paid just $2. The box was sealed but I've

since taken the wrap off. My apologies for not

figuring out how to rotate the pictures. My non

technical side showing it's force again today.

Now to get some letters written this weekend.

Treasure #2.

 Treasure #2 from last weekend's Boot Sale, 

this sweet vintage girl is a music box.

She was up for grabs for $10, I offered

$5 and the vendor accepted $6. It's on our

mantel today but will likely end up in our

master bedroom as the colors are perfect.

Blog Reno.

My blog template suddenly disappeared a few days ago. This happened one other time but after doing some research, I discovered the site was down and would be back up within a day. And just like that, my blog template returned. But this time, the site is up, so I'm not sure why my favorite background has vanished. I just spent an hour searching the site this morning but couldn't find it. I'm sending a note to the creator but in the mean time, I've chosen a new template for now. I may try out a few others to see which one fits my style. Just like our old house, which is in the few days of a big renovation before the renters move in, my blog is a bit under a reno for now. Be patient while I figure it all out. And enjoy the new theme. Hope you like this one for today!

How did you design your blog?

Do you make changes to it often?

Wordless Wednesday.

Summer Rain.

We've developed quite a pattern here

in our area. Each day, it's sunny and

deliciously warm (but not horribly,

unbearably hot) and then it changes. 

 The clouds begin to form, moving fast

and then the wind picks up. The thunder

rolls and the lightening strikes. Finally,

the rain begins to fall, gentle at first.

Then the downpour begins. These shots

are from the veranda and I took them on

Monday night. I'll have to download the

ones I took last night while in town. I'm

sure it was a mini tornado that went down

the street I was on. Crazy all around and

then the clouds drifted off and the sun 

came out, like nothing had happened at

all. At least it's keeping our nights nice

and cool, great for sleeping and ever so

lovely for anything growing in gardens.

Not too many storms in the middle of the

night, which is when I truly hate to

listen to thunder and lightening!

How is the weather in your area this July?

Lots of warms days with storms or cool and calm?

I'm so NOT Technical.

I started a separate Instagram account today to have my blog be a focus for my blogging buddies. Tried 4 times to link it to my blog. But because I do NOT have a technical bone in my body, it won't sync. For now, I'll just post the link and hope that later, when my kids are awake, someone can help me sort out how to post it correctly. 

Hope if you are on Instagram, you'll follow my posts. And feel free to share yours here or by emailing me so I can follow you!

Chy's Instagram Link

Treasure #1.

We had a great time at the Boot Sale

on Sunday morning, a very sunny day.

I promised to write about all the treasures

we found and here is the first item we bought:

This beautiful framed print we haggled 

on ~ a "Welcome" picture for the hall.

In the picture, there is a girl reaching

up to pull on the door knocker. From the 

back, she reminds me of the young girl 

from the movie and stage play "Les Miz".

A perfect addition to our vintage look.

And from $15 to $10, I love it even more!

Sea Glass Counters.

This showed up on our feed today in an article about different materials that are available for counter tops. I absolutely adore our new house and ma really very happy with all our choices. We have black granite in the kitchen and main floor bath. I believe it's called Black Pearl. Love the specs that look like little diamonds and the variation in pattern. The natural look is what we hoped for and got.

Down the road, we will build again. And our hope for our retirement is to find a tiny little plot of land, overlooking the ocean, where we would build a tiny cottage, just the two of us, with a little path to a tiny art studio, just for the two of us! So even though the dreaming for this house is now complete (well, I do still have to figure out curtains), we can dream a bit more for the cottage. Lots to ponder. I love This Sea Glass counter top would be amazing in a seaside setting, don't you think?

Achy.

Life is full of sweet moments and difficult times. Most of the time. there seems to be a balance of the good and then a bit of bad thrown in. I often think the bit of bad is so we appreciate the good that much more. Right now, I have a bit more than just a bit of bad .... lots of stress, lots of worry. The god thing is I'm working through each bit, slowly, piece by piece. It's really the only way I can get through it all. Tedious and not what I'd like to be doing on such beautiful summer days. But the reality is, the stress and worry doesn't go away until the things I have to deal with right now are solved. Something I've learned from many years of trial and error.  Many, many years!

The downside to all of this is that I'm finding I'm holding my stress in my body. And for me, this means I hurt from head to toe. Ouch!! My toes hurt, my hair hurts, my fingers, my jaw, my back, everything hurts! I ache and it's not very pleasant. I know once life settles again, that the hurt, the aches will subside. But until then, I have to just keep pushing through to get to my final goal of peace and no worries again. Can't wait to get there! 

Does your body hold your stress?

How do you deal with the aches?

And we're off ....

.... to the 3rd Vintage Boot Sale, being held 

at the big Antique Mall in the city. The 

house is clean, chores are completed, we

worked hard yesterday and this is our treat!

Since the last sale, I've been saving our

pennies (ok, so no pennies in Canada

anymore), took in bags of bottles for

refunds and found $50 in our latest

purging of files and boxes. With a sum

of $80 in my pocket, we're off! We have

no idea what we'll find but the "treasure

hunt" is so much fun. Will post later ....

Not a Fan.

It's another night of bright lightening,

followed by rolling thunder that builds

from a small rumble to huge crashes,

right over our house, it seems. I am most

definitely not a fan of these storms. When

we lived in town, the odd light show and

some accompanying noise wasn't too big

of a deal. But out in the country .... that

is a whole new adventure and one I don't

like to be part of. A trade off, for sure!

Not Ready Yet.

Yesterday, a co~worker brought her new kittens

in to work. And look who landed in my lap!

A sweet little tabby, a purring girl who loved

to cuddle up with me for her little nap.

I've thought about having a cat as a mouser out

here in the woods. But we're not quite ready yet.

Our pup died two years ago, at the age of 16 and

we haven't gotten to the point of having a new one.

Maybe next year. It was was so tempting to

just scoop this little one up and bring her home.

But our garage is getting a make over soon and

until then, it wouldn't be fair to have this tiny

mite live in that chaos. I'd love her to pieces

but would also likely worry about her being

outside in the cold, and then I'd want to bring

her inside, which isn't our plan for a cat. Ah ....

Do you have a kitten or a cat?

Is it an indoor or outdoor pet?

Organic Raspberries.

We stopped at our old house today to do some

more preparing for our tenants to move in next

week. And took a peek at our raspberry bushes

in the back garden. What a haul! So plump and

red and very sweet. I don't think in all the years

we lived there, we got so many berries in one

picking. The rain we keep getting has helped

for sure. Wish our garden was in already!!

Do you have berries in your garden?

If so, are they as lovely as these?

Wordless Wednesday #2.

Wordless Wednesday #1.

Boot Sale #2.

A trip to the Antique Mall Boot Sale in June

netted quite a hall. The value of all these items

was over $220 ~ the value the vendors had

listed them for, not the true worth of course.

I had saved and saved as this was the largest

boot sale of the year, so I knew we'd find some

amazing treasures. We left home early and I

had a tidy $200 tucked away in my wallet.

But after careful and fun negotiations, our

final total was a very lovely $160. Success!

A pretty petite point, two tiny English tins,

sweet rose votives, a pretty pair of frames

with attached planters and finally, a colorful 

print for our bright and color filled guest room.

A tiny ballerina dress, a yellow floral patched

pillow for one of the window seats and a frame.

Sweet smocked dress, a pair of Irish salt and

pepper shakers, two vintage books for our

growing collection (pink and purple), a

tiny box from Russia (I have matching ones

from my trip there at 16), a vintage planter,

a unique round biscuit tin and a painting.

Love this painting for our master

bathroom. It has all our colors in it!

On my wish list forever, a Boston Fern

plant stand and here it is! It was listed for

$45. I'm sure this is the same one at the

last Boot Sale that was listed then for

$85. I offered $25 to start and it was

accepted! I had many comments and a

number of gasps as we walked it out to

our car. So happy with this purchase.

A shot to show how big the frame

is. And a steal at just $8.

It's actually a chalk board and what caught

my eye and made it endearing was the

vintage glass knob on the end. When I saw

the price tag, I was sure it said $100, which in 

my head I was justifying because of the work

that would have gone in to it to turn it from

an old frame in to a working piece for our

kitchen. And the know is well worth that

amount. Then the lady who made it and

approached me and said I was welcome

to make an offer as she could see I was very

interested. I took the tag in my hand and it

was then that I realized it said $10, not $100.

I was going to just pay that and she said

she would let me have it for $8. Sold!!

She was happy it was going to be loved.

Close ups of the smaller items that

rounded out the larger pieces we chose.

The black iron pieces are a hanging plant

stand that we are going to put on the porch.

Such soft colors in these matching frames.

Trying to decide where to put them now.

A tiny teddy for my tiny collection.

And a depression era green jar with lid.

Finally, the first piece we picked up ~

another wish list item to cross off!

Have you attended any Boot Sales lately?

Is it something you have in your community?

Favorite Flowers.

While we wait for the storms to end,

we have been able to enjoy the small

pots I planted early in the spring. A

favorite pot is this one. I love how the

sweet pink blooms move so gently in

the breeze. The purples are delicate

and smell so delicious! Lavender is

my all time favorite but love these too. 

Our Bo.

Weeks of intense thunder storms and constant

rain have made our pup one nervous little

guy. He is always wanting to watch out the

windows now to see what's happening out in

the gardens. Rain everywhere, loud thunder,

big lightening and only bits of sun here and

there. I hope soon we'll have a reprieve so this

sweet pup can play outside with his boy.

Farm Fresh.

Our recent small haul from our local

community Farmer's Market last week.

Crunchy, tasty and oh so delicious!

One day, our garden will look like this.

Do you shop at your Farmer's Market?

What is your favorite item to buy?

The Antique Mall.

A favorite place to visit and search

for vintage treasures. A really great

place to go on a rainy, cold, thundery

day when the chores are done ....

Love this old wooden tool box that has 

been re~purposed with old ribboned jars.

In a heart beat, if I had a bigger budget,

this would have gone in to my basket. I

 have fallen in love with anything that is

Beatrix Potter but $42 was not attainable.

I collected Holly Hobbie glass ware as

a kid and still have some favorite pieces.

And Bunnykins too! But I've never seen

this classic piece before. Very expensive.

Love this vintage china cabinet.

The style of it is so amazing.

For Mother's Day, my dh bought me 2 

garden obelisk's for $60, for both. Mine are 

quite detailed and very tall. This one is much

smaller and at $115 for 1, not a bargain!

 Love this piece! Love the curved

glass and the little mirror. Sweet!

Lovely display. Next to the claw foot tub,

I love the little garden box under the boat.

I got really excited when I found this

wicker hamper but sad when I found

the price tag hanging inside. It's in such

great condition but at $96, not mine!

Hat, anyone? A lovely basket with

a variety of vintage hats to wear.

We truly love visiting the Antique Mall

and often find great prices. There are

many items that I'm sure the vendor

may not know the true value or they

want a quick sale. Some items we see

months later and know then the vendor

is holding out for the true value but it

really isn't true value if no one is buying

it at the price listed. We go in with a

budget in mind and can come out with

nothing in our hands. Or we nail the

budget completely. Sometimes we go

a bit over but then we don't visit for

a while if it was a piece that was worth

stretching the budget for that visit. If

we didn't have a budget, I'd be broke!

Do you have a Antique Mall in your community?

What's your favorite thing to look for at the AM?