A Girl Can Dream, Part 2

I went to the antique shop, and as I thought, not five minutes went by before one of the owners, who was keeping shop, inquired about my Mother.

I guess it is a country, or a Southern thing - ? Whenever I see any of the locals, they greet me this way:

"Haaaaay there! How have you been, honey? How is your Mother?"

Anyway, back to my local Antique store quest: She asked me how my mother was; and how she was doing since my Grandmother's death a few months ago; how was she holding up and all.

I, of course, respond by reporting that my mother is doing wonderfully, and doesn't know what to do with herself these days after caring for my Grandma 24 hrs. a day for so long.

Other pleasantries ensued: How are my horses; it sure has been warm lately; I haven't seen you in here for a while; etc. etc.

Then I descended upon the hats like a swarm of locusts. I looked at about six displayed on a dresser. I looked at two or three more perched on a chair.

Four more were in the back on an old desk. Cute, but not stunning, and very reasonably priced. Then she directed me to a PILE of hatboxes ..... each containing three or four stunning, exquisite hats.

I was reduced to a blob of jelly as each and every hatbox lid I removed revealed more and more beautiful and unique hats within the tissue clouds.

I chose four. Then I chose another. Then I changed my mind. Then I finally decided on three of the best and oldest. Then I changed my mind again and couldn't remember which box held the other one I wanted. So I had to go through them all again.... darn. There were about 40 hats or more to go through. *sigh*


Finally, I chose three - (for the time being -) a white wool Jane Austen Style bonnet for my own collection, and two for my Etsy shop - a stunning purple one with a feather, and a dainty little black straw and velvet number in perfect condition from the late 30's or early 40s, the shop lady informed me. I will have pics soon.

She even gave me a discount, for being local, and for the excellent conversation I offered during my visit. :) (Not really. It's just that I am local, and she knew my Grandma, and all. )

Before departing, I casually inquired about the next door shop..... and wouldn't you know, it has been rented already, by a member of the Town Council. He is doing absolutely nothing with it, but as soon as it was empty, he pounced on it, just to get it before someone else did. This is how small towns operate..... it's just the way it is. So, Jack, another town council member, who serves with me on the Historical Preservation and Beautification Society Board of Directors- and who happened to be in the store while I was there, and who is the brother of one of the owners - suggested I ask the guy about the shop. But, I doubt I would be allowed the front rooms with the windows, as he is rumored to be putting some antique furniture in there to sell, and he'd want that window space for his items. Understandably.

So.... my brick and mortar shop dream is on hold again; which is fine with me; as I really don't have the numbers in my business yet to be thinking about opening a shop shop.

And I think I will go back tomorrow and buy some more hats - because when I showed my husband what I bought, and told what I spent, he said, innocently:

"Is that all?"


Have a wonderful weekend, y'all!

A Girl Can Dream, Right?!

So my ultimate dream ..... my pie in the sky impossible dream..... is to have my own vintage clothing/haberdashery/"farm girl" antiques shop. Not an Etsy shop..... an actual, real life, "Brick and Mortar" shop shop.

I have wanted to do this ever since I started working at an antiques shop as a teenager and collecting things.

But, the expense of running such a shop is outrageous. And all the ladies I know who own and run such shops in my little, quaint historic hometown in NC are wealthy older retired ladies with more money than they know what to do with.

There is the lease, electricity, insurance, taxes, getting a business licence, opening a business account, getting together enough inventory, getting display shelves and cases together, etc. etc.

I figure one of these days I'll be one of those older, retired ladies with more money than I know what do do with (If I play my cards right) and then in that happy carefree day I too will be the owner of a quaint dusty antiques shop. With a shop cat, of course. :)

Here is the thing eating at me today, though.... one of the antiques shops in my little, quaint, historic town in NC packed up and left. Leaving their space empty and dark.

 

It's in this row of Victorian store fronts referred to locally as "The Shoppes Of Milton".
It is the green and cream colored one. Behind the "Open" banner.

 

Next door to the ultra cute Milton Antique Mall.



Anyway, there is the perfect room in the front portion of this now empty building for a shop such as the one in my dream..... not too big; not too small. Perfect.
With wide pine board floors polished smooth from over 100 years of customer traffic.

With tall windows created just for display and window shopping passers-by.

With double front doors with the original Victorian doorhandles. Perfect for attaching a cute shop keeper's bell.

With a door leading into the Antique Mall next door.

Yes.

I am dying to find out if they'd let me do it; and for how much..... the owner is an old friend of my Grandma's, and my Mom's; and has watched me grow up from the time I was a wee girl. I used to feed her cats and fish when she went out of town.

So. It may all come to nothing, but this weekend I plan on going up there to the Milton Antique mall. I plan on buying out her stash of vintage hats my mother warned me about. And I plan on reminiscing about my Grandmother and the good old days; and I plan on very casually inquiring about rent on the front room of the building next door.

And here is how it is going to end:

"Why, yes! What a perfectly lovely idea! Your mother told me you were selling lovely old things on the computer, when I saw her at the Post Office the other day. How interesting. Yes, I believe you may rent that room for..... oh, say $100 per month? Yes! Here is a key. You may move your things in starting tomorrow. No, don't pay me now.... wait till next week. You can use all those old display things in the back. I believe I have some old dress forms in my basement; could you use those? And I have piles of old clothes and hats you may try to sell also, if you like. Can you work some of the rent off by keeping my store once in a while? Oh, wonderful! I can't wait. We are so looking forward to having you here! I will call the paper and send them down to do a story on our new shop keeper. Welcome!"

Yup. Crossing my fingers. But not getting my hopes too high.....

Evening

 

As I was walking in the evening last week (as I often do), I was struck with how much I love this time of day....

My Dad loves the morning. He likes to get up early and have a period of peace and quiet to prepare for the day. He says it is peaceful.........but to me, mornings are busy, hectic, full of energy and buzzing with anticipation of the day head.

The evening, however. For me, the evening is calm. Peaceful. The universe is winding down. Relaxing. Mellowing out.

So at dusk, after a delicious, home made, satisfying meal, I walk. I like to enjoy silence. I like the face that I cannot hear traffic on the highway. Instead, I hear insects and birds; perhaps the great horned owl that lives in our woods will have something to say.

In the summer, I relish the cooling temperature. I pause to take in the sky; sit in the grass and breathe that amazing farm air.

Often I am joined by my kitty cats; and of course my husband and bestest buddy in the whole world. Sometimes we say nothing at all; sometimes we have some casual, low conversation. We don't want to scare the wildlife. Sometimes we see a doe and her fawn. Sometimes we see the wood ducks and their little chicks floating silently on the pond. Once, I watched for a few minutes as a raccoon climbed into a hole in the side of a hollow tree and disappeared. I like to see my flock of hens going into their coop and settling in for the evening.

I love to see my cottage farm house through the woods; with the lamp light in the windows; and the front porch light. It is just so....cozy. Especially in the cold months. The glow of the windows through the woods promises warm wood heat coziness at the end of an evening stroll.

Evening is my favorite time to ride my horses as well.....I love to bathe them after a ride and turn them out and linger for a while, watching them as then meander out to the pasture, nibbling grass along the way, as the sun sets and the insects sing and a satisfying sense of deep fulfillment, peace, and calm fills me and makes me want to sit there forever, watching my horses graze in the dim light.

Sometimes, I don't even walk - we just sit on the porch and take it in; or sit on the patio. Or, I plop right down in a patch of lovely grass and just lay there in it for a while.

If you have never tried it, do. It is great for relieving stress and relaxing after a rotten day of work.

Have a good one....

Meet "Spook"... and a couple of other things

Well, I've done it again.

Another poor, neglected, abandoned, hungry, pitiful, whimpering kitten has found it's way into my life, my heart, my truck, and finally into my house.....

So, I had seen this poor little kitty, on the porch rail of this run-down house I pass by to feed my friend's horses at her farm. Trash in the yard, shady-looking tenants, and 2 rough, loud and mean-looking pit bulls discouraged me from getting out of my truck and investigating.

Last week, the people were gone.... leaving the dogs, the cat, the trash all over the yard, a refrigerator on the porch, and the poor kitty. Still, as I would drive by, the pit bulls would be running next to my truck, barking ferociously, and I would look on to the porch rail, where the little kitty would be perched, trying to keep safely away from the mean dogs.

Yesterday I pulled up, and the kitten was sitting in the middle of the dirt road.... the dogs were gone, no one was around.... so I was compelled.

I leaped out of my truck, and held out my hands to the poor kitty. "Here, Kitty," I said. It came to me, crying. I picked it up; and noted how thin she was.... luckily I had a kennel in the back of my truck I had just picked up from my parent's house for our new puppy due to come home in 2 weeks. I put her in, fed the horses, and took her home right away.



Notice she is all white, with a blue eye and an amber eye. She is at least 12 weeks old. She has fleas, and ear mites, and is about half starved. Plus she has a nasty sore on her neck; either from scratching fleas, or from where she may have been manhandled by the dogs. I don't know.

So I called my vet's office immediately, and wouldn't you know he is on vacation till the 18th.... grrrr. Oh well, I guess even vets need a little time away.



So we decided to keep her and "look for another person to take her", but it's only day 2, and I am getting more and more attached by the moment.
We have to keep here confined to the kitchen until I can get her to the vet; b/c of the risk of fleas getting all over the house, and because she could infect all the other cats with ear mites.
In the kitchen I can clean and disinfect things every day.

I already have her litter-box trained, and she already knows what it is when I open the fridge. She is weaseling her way into my heart and I don't know if I can give her up.

We are thinking of calling her "Spook".

Anyways........... on to the other things -

It's AMA Super Bike weekend at the Virginia International Raceway not 5 miles from my house here in Alton,VA. They have this race they call the "Big Kahuna".

ESPN and other TV networks, as well as somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 fans go to this race over at the track not 5 miles from my house. There are TWO ways to get to the track.... the 2 lane highway going past my front door, and the 2 lane highway going through my home town 7 miles up the road where my parents live, where we keep our horses, and where I still spend a lot of time. All 25,000 - 30,000 fans drive by my house or by my horse farm to get to this "Big Kahuna" race.
The TV equipment scrambles our TV, radio, and often, my Internet signal. They have helicopters flying around for the aerial shots. The gas stations run out of gas, snacks and drinks leaving nothing for us locals. The traffic is insane..... madness. I hate it. So I just wanted to let y'all know that.

Also. My little sis Noelle and I have been watching the BBC version of Bleak House. I love it. It is one of my faves now. Check it out. I got it through my Netflix. :)

Well, it is off to the kitchen with me, to clean Spook's litter box. Also wash dishes. And mow the grass. And weed the flower bed. And get the mail. And.... well, you get the drift.

Have a wonderful day........

Pink, Ruffles, Lace, and Bows - Oh My.

Well hello there!

I haven't been around much lately, I know.

Anyway.

I am usually a person who loves summer, and hot weather, and spend most of it running around barefoot, in as little clothing as I can get away with while still being modestly attired, BUT.....

I have had enough of the heat already! around 100 degrees almost every day for almost the entire summer is just TOO MUCH.

So I have been looking forward to fall, and dreaming about Christmas; and I have started getting all my fall/winter Etsy items together; I am so excited! I have so much new stuff coming. Yay.

But before all of that, I have recently added some romantic, lovely little items that I was lucky enough to uncover.



This hat reminded me of My Fair Lady for some reason, so I call it that. It is real straw; from around the late 1940's ish. Buy it here.


I found this on a Children's clothing rack at a local thrift shop.... it is actuall y a ladies sized mini dress in a lovely shade of dusty rose. Puurdy.


Buy it here.


Buy it here.


Buy it here.

Each of these are gowns that were gift boxed and the recipient never wore them. Probably cast offs from a bridal shower? That's what I like to think; and after 50 years, she finally allowed herself to donate them, because maybe her friends forgot all about it. :D The pink one has a sweet bed jacket that goes with it. With tags.

Look for them all in my Etsy shop soon - if not already.

And stay cool. I find lots and lots of sweet iced tea and ice cream works well.

Onward to fall!

Gross, or Not Gross?

Question:

Are you "grossed out" by photos of items for sale being worn by a model? Especially jewelry - in particular, earrings - and also hats?

Would the fact that the item is modeled by a real live person be so completely repugnant to you that you would NOT buy the item, no matter how cute it was?

I ask, because of an interesting thread on the Etsy forums concerning this subject. Some people are so grossed out by models wearing earrings in the photos they never buy and move on to un-modeled earrings.

Others are grossed out by even bracelets and necklaces worn in photos. Some sellers that get returns get mad because they have to throw the earrings away because they've been worn by someone else.

Some of the people refuse to buy hats if they're worn in the photos. (Mostly handmade hats.)

When I buy vintage things, I try to only buy items in the best condition; even new, unworn condition. But obviously with vintage, it's old; so you can safely assume the item has been worn before.

I suppose most people who have a "thing" about wearing anything previously modeled by a real live, potentially smelly, dirty, oily, germy person, would also not be buying anything vintage. I also assume any person who shops for vintage is aware of the fact that vintage = worn by someone else in most cases. Unless it is dead stock or MIB.

But I dunno. That's why I am asking. I try to personally model all of my items; it best represents the shape, size, and look of an item. I never thought about grossing potential customers out before.

I am generally a very clean person; and not stinky. I usually wash my hair before modeling any and all hats. Is it still "nasty"?

I guess I should not care so much; I have managed to sell a whole lot of hats and things in the 10 months or so I have been on Etsy.

But I just wanna know:

Modeled Hats - nasty?

Modeled earrings - super gross?

Modeled other jewelry that touches skin - creepy?

Modeled clothing - heebeygeebeys?

Little Diggers

This weekend we harvested some of our potato crop. My nieces and nephew are the best help for digging 'taters.

Kevin and Eli used the tractor to break up the potato rows, and my sis. in law Sherry and I started hoeing the mound to expose the potatoes.



The kids treat it like an easter egg hunt.




Brendan grabbed a hoe also..... and found 'taters all by himself.



Abi, the actress.





This is what I get for raising my chickens in the house: pet hens who want to be held.

This is a great way for children to grow up knowing where food comes from: working on the farm.