networking. it's what we do now in michigan.

yesterday, while garage sailing.. i overheard a lady complain that she was starting a new antique business in an old barn and couldn't find help... she was pretty livid... in her words, "teenagers nowadays don't want to work." my ears perked up and without thinking, i bellowed... "my son would love a job!" long story short, we exchanged phone numbers and she offered my son a job on the spot. starting today. making $8. an hour. hauling furniture and lumber and cleaning out the barn below. what sealed the deal was the fact that he was a homeschooler with flexible hours. not to mention my comment of self-reliance.

since my son is only 12 and since i didn't know these people whatsoever, (although i did run a background check on our state police website), i decided that i would stay there. not near him mind you, but on the opposite side of the barn. i warned him about what to watch for and to leave if at any point he was uncomfortable. but, insisted he not act as if i were there.. which meant not coming over near me at all.... no, none of that. he had a job to do and so did i.

i just had to sneak and take this snap of him loading antiques for a customer. he's the one in the orange shirt.


my job? i planted myself next to this silo and shade tree, and worked on my chidren's novel. i hit a few brick walls while writing... so, i went back and tweaked some things. i am elated with what i have written so far... but at a point where i'm spinning my wheels.


i love this banged up piece of garden artwork outside one of the barns. look close, the ladies arms are made from table legs... the rest of the artwork remains a mystery?
quite possibly, there's an opportunity for the both of us this summer? tommie earning money and learning about antique furniture, working for someone eles and me sitting next to a silo.... with the warm breeze taking me across the pond... to where my novel takes place.
smile, wink, nod.

just had to post my mom's latest project!

she just finished making this drop-dead gorgeous footstool!

it is made with hand-dyed wool-- much of it she dyes herself.

right on top of her stove. or the wool is recycled.

it is breath-taking in real-life. don't you think she should give it to me

for my birthday?

a really interesting article on the english and early american background of how it all originated is: click here!

how about a good freebie on monday?! sign up is quick and painless.

go here to sign up for a free 2 oz. sample

of caress body wash! i picked peach. what did you pick?

about the weekend:

rain. pizza with light cheese. tulips blanketing my gardens. rhubarbs ready. set up again at a local flea market. dug up organic mint and white daisy's to sell. sold all of them. played with the ducks. trying to train them to waddle from the milkhouse to the pond. did not intend to work at the newspaper recycling trailer with my son and his boy scout troop. did i mention, i didn't want to? it was required. 2 hours of it. i could of been garage sailing. that was my intent.

this picture was taken at my second dad's house. he's planning on taking us morel mushroom hunting, very soon.

now, it's off to a long, hot shower. warm pajama's. it's damp. and nestle down with mr. emerson's wife novel. it's sort of slow going.



teresa in texas: thanks for the retro-trailer book recommendation. i'll be sure to check into it.
jamie: as always, thanks for the comments. you need to start a blog!

want to know a secret?

someday, i hope to have a retro camping trailer.

someday....

someday i will.

and it will be furnished with retro: dishes, curtains, and other decor.

and books. historical fiction.

and it will have an awning. pink striped.

i'll pass on the flamingos.

but, wouldn't mind novelty lights hanging off the awning.

and more books. nature guides. and maryjane magazines.

with a comfy chair with pillows. and matching footstool.

and, you're invited!

for now though... click here and check out this vintage camping trailer fashion show!

smile, wink, nod!

treasures!

it's been a great week for garage sales, free samples in the mail and salvation army shopping! i couldn't turn down the shabby chic purse bank above... nor the water pitcher next to it. life's way to short... i'll be using the pitcher for tea or maybe a vase!

i sure do enjoy receiving free samples in the mail! i have lots of links on my sidebar that keep me informed. all which are legit and not a scam. i was shocked when i opened the manila mail envelope to find a full size bottle of aveeno lotion!

i might of paid too much for this "fiddler on the roof" musical turn-around piece... $5. but, it is an antique and fiddler on the roof is one of my top two movies of all time. plus, it works! i adore this mini basket flower holder... i found it for a dollar.

oh! if these little treasures could talk... i'd ask them where they came from? who owned them? and were they used a lot? i always have visions of a sweet, old farm lady... who enjoyed them with passion.

smile, wink, nod!

question:

how perky do you think i was... walking out of the dollar general store

swinging this bottle of snuggle fabric softener?

knowing i only paid .18 cents for it?

answer:

very perky, indeed!

how about you? do you coupon? share your tips in my comments!

smile, wink, nod!

Lucy and The Great White Treasure!

15 year old lucy and and i, went for a brisk walk down our road....

for 15 years (plus), i've been making this jaunt

and

... have i ever spotted these adorable white wildflowers growing on the side of a shady bank before? no. it was as if i discovered a new treasure!

check out how the stem of the flower grows directly in the cut-out part of a separate leaf!

i tried to figure out what they were. i have two pretty nice wildflower books. but, just can't seem to identify them. do you know? if so, i'd love you to post the name in my comments.

my cousin jimmy!

at least once a month... when the weather is nice, my cousin jimmy (jim as he'd rather be called) pays me and my family a visit. he lives a good hour from us... due south.

in my immediate family, growing up.... there were only four of us cousins... half of us, are above. that said, we have been blessed beyond measure, that the four of us... keep a tight relationship and love each other immensely!

i know, i know... i'm not wearing a helmet. but, i do have the latest copy of country living tucked in the back of my pants! i was headed over to help my neighbor with his garage sale....


i once saw a picture of pamela anderson, riding with her arms extended to each side. so, i thought i'd give it a try! now, i can say i have at least one thing in common with her.



thank you big cousin... (jimmy's 55... see why he's exhausted from me calling him by his childhood name? i am positive he will still be jimmy to me when he's 85.) i always say a prayer of a safe journey home, when you leave my driveway!
love you.

treasure in the trash!

today, while zipping through the side streets in town, my eyes spotted this banged up old trellis, in some ones garbage! putting the car in reverse, i backed up and asked the owner if it was trash? yes! and you can have it! trying not to let him see me hyper-ventilate... i shoved it in the back of my trailblazer. i need to paint the top board white... other then that... it is a fine piece of shabby chic garden art!

so..... have you ever in your life stopped off and pulled something out of some one garbage? if so... let me know in my comments! (i've also pulled two old bushel baskets from some one's garbage.... great for my garden!)

starting seedlings with paper towel tubes and plastic containers!

last week, i started a few of my seedlings indoors! all winter long, my mom saves and my aunts save and i save plastic containers and paper towel tubes. then, on a cold, blistery night.... while watching t.v., we cut up the tubes, cutting and bending the bottoms up to make an expandable bottom for the root to grow through. obviously, the plastics acts as a greenhouse. when i'm ready to plant... i just stick the whole tube in the ground and it decomposes.

my dill, basil, peas and beans are going crazy! they're ready to be outside. and so am i! smile, wink, nod!

just had to bring a little yellow into my house, yesterday! i dropped several yellow drops of food coloring in the canning jar-make shift vase!


it's been awhile since i've done a meme... i saw this on my friend penny's blog ( diosa domestica located on my sidebar) and thought i'd have some fun:

1. never in my life have i been: drunk, arrested or on illegal drugs.

2. the one person who can drive me nuts is: this man at the flea market i sell at... who walks around playing the harmonica and tambourine.

3. high school was: the worst part of my entire life.

4. when i'm nervous: i can't sit still!

5. the last song i listened to was: lady antebellum: need you now.

6. if i were to get married right now, my maid of honor would be: my cousin cathy or rhonda m.

7. my hair is: not a natural color and is very curly. and i'm trying to let it grow really long!

8. when i was 5: i watched captain kangaroo, played with my mrs. beasley doll, and thought life would always be a picnic.

9. last christmas: i slipped and told my 12 year old, there really wasn't a santa. I THOUGHT HE KNEW! not a pretty scene. i'm sure... a 12 year old boy who can take apart little engines and is a mechanical whiz.... and yet, he never figured out that santa's sleigh wasn't real?

10. i should be: in the shower and holding down the couch and preparing homeschool lessons for the week!

11. when i look down i see: my black cowboy boots

12. the happiest recent event was: celebrating easter at my cousin cathy's house!

13. if i was a character on friends, i would be: phoebe. a ditsy blond who acts like she doesn't know what's going on. or does she?!?!

14. by this time next year i will be: hopefully-finished with my children's novel.

15. my current gripe is: i need more hours in the day. and my sciatic nerve is really giving me trouble.

16. i have a hard time understanding: how email is sent and how the internet works?

17. there's this girl i know that: has more energy then anyone i know! she's my mom!

18. if i won an award, the first person i would tell would be: my husband!

19. take my advice: instead of being right... choose kindness.

20. the thing i want to buy: is a few toby keith c.d.'s... mine are all scratched.

21. if you visited the place i was born: you'd be 2 miles from where i am sitting!

22. i plan to visit: a lot of garage sales this season!

23. if you spent the night at my house: you'd have to sleep on the living room floor, in a sleeping bag. my house is very tiny! but, i'm sure we'd make popcorn!!

24. the world could do without: people who are driven by their egos!

25. most recent thing i bought myself: 2 bags of seed onions, 1 cabbage and a leek.

26. most recent thing someone bought me: two new t-shirts! from my mom on easter.

27. my favorite blond is: me.

28. my favorite brunette is: i have too many to mention... can't just pick one!

29. my favorite red head is: my wonderful nephew alex!

30. my middle name is: renee.

31. in the morning i: make 2 cups of instant coffee and play on the internet before i officially start my day.

32. once at a bar: i met a few of the detroit red wings players. my best friend at the time, was their flight attendant.

33. last night i was: finalizing things for today's flea market.


happy sunday night!

one of the many, many perks (i'm being sarcastic) of being a vendor at the flea market is... the behind the scenes... (doesn't that make me sound important?!) swapping and bartering that happens! take for instance the vegetable: leeks. i had a pair of kids shoes i swapped for a bag load of leeks. and with the 25 pound bag of organic potato's i bought... i just knew soup was in the future.

here's the recipe i use for the soup. i add lots of caraway seeds.

last night, after a dinner of homemade cabbage soup and beer bread... i decided i'd try making fabric paper. i read about it here! i used decoupage and water. and, paper napkins, tissue paper and odd gift wrap! you have no idea how much fun this was! my fabric turned out quite stiff... but yet, flexible enough to bend and hand-stitch. i'm thinking i will simply fold it in half and stitch little eye glass purses, or little purses or check book covers or cover a journal. be sure to visit here! so you can get the full idea on how to do this. you will love it! very therapeutic! oh sure, the nation can talk about cutting back on nuclear power.. but i just want to decoupage'! you're welcome to click on the image and see it up close~ smile, wink, nod!

well... i finnaly did it! i made a recycled sweater doll! i've been wanting to for quite some time and on easter, i decided to give it a go! i didn't use a pattern... i just starting cutting away! i even have enough material to make another. perhaps a twin or maybe a friend.... smile, wink, nod!

on easter, my cousin gave us a bottle of his homemade mead. or honeywine. it was made with honey from our beehives! happy to say... he won first place in frankenmuth's annual mead-making contest! two more bottles are heading to the national mead contest in new hampshire! i'm thinking it's my fence row of goldenrod and mega-giant sunflowers, which our bees went wild over.... that took his mead to the finish line!

i finished phillipa gregory's boleyn inheritance, last night. to think that society today believes life can be so rough. or they've been dealt a bad-hand.... pales in comparison to what happened in the 1500's england. king henry was about as evil as the come.

today, i started mr. emerson's wife by amy brown. a historical fiction about philosopher ralph waldo emerson and his friend, henry david thoreau.

what's your latest read?

call me crazy.

but, when my big blue eyes spotted these lovable little peking ducks at our local tractor supply store.... i just had to have them! four to be exact. oh sure, i didn't bother thinking that the novelty will wear off and they'll grow up and be messy. no... i was having a tasha tudor moment. or beatrix potter. maybe it was the fact that it was easter weekend. or the near-record highs of 80's in april in michigan. or when i looked at the excitement in my 12 year old's eyes?

we bought a bag of poultry feed,

carried these chicks out in a

cardboard box. quacking the

entire ride home.

very little work was done yesterday. my son and i played with the ducks most of the day. they followed us everywhere. and, i never tired of tommie talking baby talk to them.

my husband brad, on the other hand... wasn't as caught up in the excitement as we were. i'm putting this mildly. his ears turned red and i believe i saw what looked like little puffs of steam spouting from his ears. no really, i'm serious.

however, after a few hours he was over it.... i'm sure i even heard him talking baby talk to one of them. but, pretend you don't know this.

let's not forget the real reason for

this weekend... Matthew: 26-28.

read it. read it again. read it to

your children. talk about it. and

give thanks.

today finds me a little perkier... thank you for the well wishes. it's a drag when you have so much you want to do and no oooooomph to do it! well, the oooooomph better stick around for today.... because in an hour, i'll be setting up a garage sale with my neighbor. it's early to have a garage sale in michigan--- but the weather is so incredible for this time of year, we decided we should capitalize on it!

i was stunned. yep, literally stunned when i heard about three area goodwills in the next county due west of us... closing their doors. i just had to ask... why? i was told that they weren't meeting their budget. now, i'll tell you..... our economy is so bad in michigan that even goodwill is tossing in the towel... and, it's donation-driven at that.

when i hear news like this.... and it's everywhere in our state, with everyone you talk to... the country song, "why don't we just dance?" echoes in my head... and, sometimes i even dance around my kitchen- all by myself to forget the troubles of these times. you should try it sometime!

it will make you smile... that i can promise! smile, wink, nod.