What?? We're having dinner here?!

I'd resigned myself to having a quiet, rather lonely, Thanksgiving Day. Ricky is working until 6:00, Erin and her boyfriend will be eating lunch with his grandparents, my dad and step mother are in Tennessee, Philip, our son, is in Florida. Then suddenly, things changed. Thanksgiving day will still be quiet - but busy - but Friday? Not so quite, and busier. We found out Philip will be coming up for the Alabama-Auburn game and will be here sometime Friday afternoon. That's great, but I still thought we'd just have a quiet holiday weekend. Erin had to work on Friday and my dad would still be in Tennessee. (I'm an only child, by the way. Have I ever mentioned that?) Then yesterday afternoon, I got a call from a local school telling me that Ricky had won the raffle for a meal for 20 from a local caterer! Well....yea! Uh, who's going to eat it?

I knew Friday was the only day we could do this, so I called Erin. Yes, someone was willing to swap days with her. Called Philip to verify he would be here. Yes. Then I started calling Ricky's family. He's one of seven children. So far, everyone has said they'd be here. I'm only calling the ones we're close to. They're the only ones who bother to show up at anything anyway. That means I'm calling four families, and their adult children and grandchildren. I'm counting 22-24 adults and teenagers and four little ones. Oops! That's risky with food for 20. Guess I'll need to cook a few more dishes. But worse than that, I've got to step up the cleaning!

Inside is basically under control. I'm not so very much worried about that since I got started last week, but this is what I'm looking at under the carport.

Ack! Ricky got in the attic and got down everything that looked remotely like Christmas decorations. Told me to go through this stuff. Get rid of what I don't want. This was mostly things we didn't necessarily use. Things that had fallen out of favor, but some things we just didn't have a better place for like lights and that big Santa and boxes of plain balls and..... The doll bed and the frame don't belong in that picture. I don't want to have to go through all these boxes. They aren't very fun. These are:

We had to build special shelves to hold the Christmas collection. I've X'd out things not Christmas. 90% of the collection is from the 1960s and earlier. I can't wait to get it all out! Can't wait to share it with you all!

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Oh, my! This is my 100th post! I'm not ready! We'll have to celebrate some other date. Either postpone the celebration or do my birthday or.......something.

So if I don't talk to you all for a few days, Happy Thanksgiving! And Happy Regular Day to the rest of the world!

Gobble, gobble, gobble

Since I'm anxious to start Christmas decorations and take pictures and, and, and..... everything, I want to get the Thanksgiving mantle out of the way.

This is my small turkey and pilgrim collection with a couple of the kids grammar school turkey creations added in.

Ah, see the camera reflection? At least it's not my ugly, "concentrating on taking a picture" face. LOL

The ugly, "concentrating on taking a picture" face was actually in this picture. That's why you don't see the top of the candlesticks.

Most of the turkeys and pilgrams are old. A few of the turkeys are from the 1980s or so, but only a few. There are Gurley candles, salt and pepper shakers, a candle holder and a napkin holder. And those two fan tail things on each end. They are from the '80s for sure. I don't like them on the ends like that, but suspect I probably just shouldn't use them at all.

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I CAN SEE! I CAN SEE!

Got my new contacts yesterday and the difference in my vision is remarkable! I've worn hard contacts since 1970. Got them over the Christmas holidays my 10th grade year. I'm still in hard contacts. Gas permeable these days. I considered going with soft, but was told my vision would not be as clear as with hard. Not having very good corrected vision with hard, I certainly didn't want it to be worse! It seems every time I'd have my eyes checked and get a new prescription, we'd go through all the, "which is better - one or two?" Then they'd stop! My mind would be screeming, "But it's not good!!!" They'd act like that was as good as it was going to be. Now, tell me. To use an old cliche, how is it they can put a man on the moon, but can't give someone with astigmatism 20/20 vision? I'll never understand that.

I chose a different eye doctor this time. She did all the tests, ordered the contacts, tried them on me then went through the "can you read this line" tests again. And tweaked the prescription. That's never happened before! So I waited another week and got my new set yesterday. The world is sharp and clear! My computer glasses are even too strong! I'm so excited! I still can't read a street sign until it's too late to turn, but all things considered, that's a minor thing. I take Ocuvite, but my dad has been taking something he has to order. He says it has helped his vision more than Ocuvite. I think I'll try it, too.

Some day I might get the courage to try Lasik surgery. My daddy has me scared. He watched that 20/20 or 60 Minutes show years ago where they were talking about people who ended up with messed up eyes. Sigh. He even brings it up still. If I did it, I sure wouldn't tell him about it.

Today's finds and store fixtures

Remember the estate sale that didn't happen last week? It actually took place today. It was the only sale I had any desire to attend this morning. It was supposed to start at 7:00, so I got there shortly after 6:30 and cars were lined up the street and people were already shopping. Phooey! I don't think I missed much, though. The lady who lived in this house went to yard sales for years and had sales a good bit. Apparently, she got rid of all her old stuff a long time ago and was replacing it with newer things. The prices were right, but there just wasn't much to choose from. Here's what I found:

This wicker stand thing is about 3' tall. Don't know what it is or if it has any age on it at all. The tray is actually very pretty, made in Italy, probably the 1970s.

What is it with me and ashtray stands? I don't smoke, never have smoked and never wanted to smoke. But I love the stands. This one has a handle, so I don't know what to do with it. Maybe put a dish in it for a small bird feeder or bird bath?

What do you "see" when you look at these terracotta.......things? I suspect they had a stand and the... er... pointy end was to be toward the bottom. Lena and I have had a good laugh over these. When I first saw them, I thought, "bullet". Lena's first thought was... um....how can I put this delicately...... an appendage we ladies don't have.

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Some of you have been wondering about the store progress. We're definitely going to get the furniture pieces from the booth today. We still have the trim to paint in the back room. Oh, foot! I should have taken a picture of the boxes and bags and piles and stacks filling up the front room right now. It's a huge mess. I've made a bit of room for the furniture, but other than that, there's barely a path. I went by this morning and noticed I hadn't locked the front door again. Not only was it not locked, it was open a couple of inches!! And had been like that for four days!! I'm really going to have to give the neighbor my phone number. One of the businesses a couple of doors down has a square dance every Friday and Saturday night, so lots of people walked past the "open" door last night, plus the riff-raff that walks up and down the street (maybe not so many in the actual front of the store) and people going to the beauty shop and dog groomer. Who knows how many people stole a peek? I bet they were appalled at the mess. Oh, I've got to get a picture so you can see what they saw. Nothing is missing. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Good because, well, nothing's missing. Bad because nobody thought anything was worth stealing! LOL

I have picked up a few display pieces lately. A store where Erin (my daughter) lives is closing out their home goods and getting rid of some of their fabulous display pieces. I always liked going in there because of the way things were displayed and now I get to own a few of the pieces myself.

These are porch column size. They put those dowel pins in them for what, I don't know.

Bent rebar to hold glass shelves.

I had this corner shelf, but it was an ugly, bland, peachy color and dirty. Erin took it home with her and crackled it and painted it this pretty blue color for me. What a sweet daughter I have!

The store with the fixtures has some old, small, rusty, grocery store shelves I have my name on. They're supposed to call Erin when they take them down, but that was to have been last week. Hope they didn't forget.

So now you're all caught up on what's going on with the shop. I pretty sure it's going to be called Just Vintage. I'd like to have that domain name, but someone is using it just as a parking site, so I'm trying to come up with a good domain name. TheJustVintageStore....... TheJustVintageShop.... Too much? I don't know. Something will come to me.

6000 Square Feet of Antiques at an Estate Sale

That was the line of parked cars we saw in front of us when we found an empty spot for our vehicle this morning. There are more over the hill, almost as many behind us and down another side street. Cars as far as the eye could see. They even had a police lady directing traffic and a man on a golf cart taking people to and from the sale.

The ad said it was the 6000 square foot home of a prominent doctor. It also said there was enough stuff to fill an antique mall and.......a basement full! You know what attracted Lena and me. The basement.

It was an hour's drive from here and we arrived about 20 minutes after opening. We headed straight for the basement full. I don't know about her, but I was envisioning a basement full like we saw this past summer. One where I spent over an hour plundering and making piles just in the basement. This was not like that. The basement was only a tiny, half size basement of nothing. It was not full! Almost empty, really, but there was a lot outside. Perhaps all that had begun life in the basement and had been drug outside. There were boxes on the ground and everything in them was a dollar each. For some things that was fine, but for others, it was way too much. Out of those boxes, I only bought these three things:

Got all three for a dollar. I really like the ornament hanger box and the little Made In Japan houses will go in my collection.

Inside the basement was this mid century, aquarium stand. You can't tell a whole lot about it from the picture, but the design of the iron is pretty unique. I almost didn't get the sheet metal trays on top until Lena walked by and said I'd better. What was I thinking? Of course they're charming and add a potting table feel to it. Lena found more than I did in boxes. Maybe we'll get to see her loot today or tomorrow.

Upstairs, was fabulous! Tables and tables of wonderful glassware and luscious porcelain, all priced appropriately. Oh, and the antique furniture was to die for, but at $875+ each piece, well, we weren't tempted to buy any. I did take a $20 chance on an 1899 White House Cook Book thinking they sold for $100 or so on eBay. Don't know where I got that idea. If they did, they aren't now. I should be able to get my money back.

Speaking of eBay, here's a tip for those of you who sell there. Sacred Harp hymnbooks. They're a southern thing, but were used throughout the US. I just sold one for $102.50, the other for $141.50. They're hard to find, but do crop up from time to time and not many people know they have value. So keep your eyes peeled for them.

Here are the auctions if you're interested in seeing them up close.

Book one.

Book two.

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I continue on my cleaning spree. Got 2-1/2 rooms done yesterday! Woohoo! LOL Of course, that messed up the room I'd already cleaned, so now I'll have to go back and straighten it. Sigh. We didn't finish taking the remaining items home from the booth yesterday, nor did we paint trim. Nothing ever goes as planned around here. Thank goodness we're flexible. Or I am. Ricky is when it pertains to me. Not so much if they are his plans.

Award time!

Some time ago, it seems like ages now, but it was just last month, I was given the You Make Me Smile Award. I've never got around to passing it along. I feel so bad about that! I'm sending it on to Lena at White Cats and Roses. You all know she and I are yard sale buds, but it goes much deeper than that. There's hardly anything we don't know about each other's innermost thoughts and feelings. Lena, you truly make me smile.

I was thrilled that Joy honored me with her brand new creation, the You Make Me Laugh Award! I'm with great company, too. Take a look and see who all else got this award. The Joy Of....

This one, I'm passing along to Kim at Vintage Rescue Squad. I've had a lot of fun reading her blog. Her yard saling reminds me so much of my life.

I really should make an effort to send these awards out to more people. All of you deserve them! I can even think of several without any effort. I've made some great Blogland friends. I'm enjoying knowing each and every one of you. But time to do that is not a luxury I have at the moment.

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I've been cleaning today. I think I've alluded to the fact that I'm not exactly Suzie Homemaker. During our married life, our arguments were always about my bad housekeeping and money. Ricky's finally accepted I'm not his mother and the kids are out of college and on their own, so we don't argue much any more. I tend to put off cleaning the house until it's a three or four day job. It gets so bad before I clean, I'm saying, "How did it get this bad? Why did I let it get this bad? How many dead bug bodies are behind that desk? Ack! A live bug! Will I get it clean in this lifetime?" My dad and step mother only show up when the dust is forming it's own mountain, dust bunnies and spider webs are hanging in sheets below the furniture,and we have to clean off places to sit. I actually heard my step mother mutter something about me needing a maid as she was leaving one time. That's the God's honest truth. She said that!

This morning I got up a ball of fire, determined to do that job in one day. Wanna guess how far I got? One room. One lousy room! And I didn't even get completely through with it. I'll keep working for a while tonight. Now, that room does have the computer area and I've tackled it. That's taken most of my time. It's that area that's still messy. You ain't seein' the before picture until I have an after, though. LOL

Tomorrow, we're supposed to get the rest of the big pieces from the booth and paint the trim at the shop. Opening day is getting closer and closer. I'm not setting a date. It'll happen when it happens.

Just popping in

There hasn't been a post from me since, when?! Can you believe I really haven't had much to talk about and no time to take any pictures of anything, so I've kept quiet. But you know I can't keep quiet for long, so thought I'd just pop in and say "Hello".

The @#!#% men-o-pause had it's grip on me yesterday. I'm generally sailing through this time of my life with very few problems or complaints, but yesterday, my anxiety level was through the roof. Very unusual for me. I'm one of the most naturally mellow people you'll ever meet. I don't need mushrooms to make me mellow. (Do they? Isn't that why the Mellow Mushroom is named the Mellow Mushroom??) But yesterday, I was anxious and, as it turns out, extremely weepy. My sister-in-law called and wanted me to go to lunch with her and her daughter. I tried to beg off, but she said her dog had died. How could I refuse lunch knowing that?

As she was telling me the story of how her 13 year old dog had a heart attack and died while she watched helplessly, I started crying. Right there in the middle of the restaurant. Didn't think I'd ever get the tear fountain turned off -- and I didn't even like the dog. Barely even knew her. And the day got worse.

Shortly after leaving the restaurant, riding down the road, minding my own business, a State Trooper clocked me going 61 in a 40 mph zone. I had no idea. Oh, I knew the speed limit and make an effort not to exceed it in that area because they set up there often. I know that! But I wasn't paying attention. So this sweet, young, baby face State Trooper and I had a laugh about our driver's license pictures and stuff in general. All the while this conversatin' was going on, I was thinking, "Oh, dear Lord! I sound just like some of the people they pull over on Cops." And I COULDN'T STOP MYSELF!! He went to his car and came back with a ticket. And I THANKED him!!! "What did I just say??" So as he was walking back to his car, I said, "No, I don't mean thank you, but haha, you know, haha." Good grief! How goofy can you get? I walking away in my side mirror and it looked like he chuckled and shook his head. Yeah, but I've still got a ticket. And one I deserved.

About half a mile later, the tears started flowing again. I could not cut them off for thirty minutes! A song came on the radio that touches my heart. I don't know the official title, but it's Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone -- Unending Love..... I was screeching out the words at the top of my lungs and bawling then added laughing, all at the same time. I'm fine today. Pretty much back to normal.

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I'm extremely honored that Joy at The Joy Of My Life and Work
chose to give me her brand new, You Make Me Laugh award! I'm in with some good company. Thank you, Joy! I've got some award catching up to do, but my husband will be home in a few minutes and I want to spend the rest of the evening with him, so as usual, I'm putting off highlighting the award and passing it along. I should be able to get to that tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for the "well" wishes. I'm still sniffling, but feel great. Got over the yucks pretty quickly. Thank God.

Lena and I haven't been able to go to the sales together in weeks. She's had other things to do. She has a life. A mini vacation one weekend, college football another and another. Not that I'm jealous or anything........ But we finally got together this morning. Headed straight for an estate sale. And waited. And waited. And waited. It became evident pretty quick nothing was going to happen, but we couldn't leave just in case. The neighbor across the street capitalized on the advertised sale by having one herself, but she has them quite often and didn't have much. She said she had not seen anyone at the neighbor's house working at all. We don't know what happened, but it sure wasn't the sale.

We hit just about every other sale in town, though. It was a slow day for stuff. Lena got a great, aqua/turquoise/that-color-I-can't-figure-out-it's-name trunk. I didn't say so, but I secretly wished I'd asked about it first. Maybe she'll picture it on her blog. I found a cool, art deco, gas, space heater and a few other things, but didn't get pictures today, so I'll talk about them later.

I did get a picture of these poodles. While I was contemplating the space heater, Lena was digging through a box and found these spaghetti poodles -- and handed them to me! How sweet was that!

The cold paint is coming off their accessories, but I love 'em anyway. Can you tell Mrs. Poodle has black cat's eye glasses on? Mr. Poodle is holding a top had and cane.

This must have been Be Kind To Wanda weekend. My sweet friend, Ruth, had a yard sale and let me come over the night before. I amazed (probably more likely appalled) her by grabbing up the old Christmas ornaments. Got a bunch of glass balls for Erin who will have her first big Christmas tree this year and is frantically hunting more ornaments. For several years she's used a vintage, small, silver tree she talked me out of. She didn't have a large enough place for anything more, but this year she does and is so excited to be decorating. It's exciting watching her.

The picture isn't all that great, but what else is new for me? Some are, some aren't. The angel, starburst things on the left, the tiny stocking, bottle brush trees, roll of tinsel garland, elf and Santa and sleigh are for me. Notice the pink handle slotted spoon and crocheted piece? I also got Lena some solid color balls and a couple of Santas, but they are already in her possession.

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I found the larger pictures of the auction items. I can't say they're all that much better, but here they are. Uh, which ones were too small??