A tree of blessings

I like to be surrounded by things that have meaning.  I think that's why I've never been very interested in buying new stuff.  I've always preferred things from the past, that have some kind of story, or, even more, things that I've made or that someone else gave to me.

This is why I could never have a "decorator" Christmas tree.  Going out and buying a bunch of themed ornaments at Wal-Mart, or color-coordinating a tree I'm sure would be fun to put together, but it wouldn't be the same as our Christmas tree with all of it's personal ornaments that we've collected over the years.

I love to look at our Christmas tree and see ornaments that were made years ago, or that a friend or family member gave us.  We've also collected a lot of ornaments from our travels.  Since we don't need a lot of stuff anymore, we usually try to find an ornament on our annual vacation and make that our souvenir.

On that note, I thought I'd share a few sentimental favorites and a pic from the trip where we found them:

Here is one of our oldest ornaments, a streetcar that we bought in San Francisco.

And here we are in front of the Golden Gate bridge.

We went to California on our honeymoon; 25 years ago!

I bought this one in 1995, before I'd ever even bought a tree.

It's an olive wood angel I bought at a shop in Jerusalem, when I was studying there.

Appropriately, it says, "Peace."

If only!

This picture is from Qumran, in one of the caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered.

Here's another one I bought in college.

It's a handpainted paper mache ornament from Taos, New Mexico.

I love the artwork!

New Mexico!

I spent a semester studying in Colorado; my family came out for my spring break and we went to New Mexico for a few days.

This sweet little donkey is made out of bread!

I was part of a mission trip to Ecuador in 2000.  While there we visited a village with interesting little shops, this particular one sold lots of Christmas decorations made from bread.

I have a little bread nativity too!

Look at me!  I'm straddling the equator!

This is at Mitad del Mundo, the "Middle of the World."

My little hula dancer from Hawaii 💗

This two-week cruise with my parents was a trip I will never forget!

And finally:

I love the look of this key ornament from Biltmore.

Here are my son and I at Biltmore last November.

It rained in the morning, but was still just a perfect day.

The house was decorated for Christmas, and so was the green house, which was an unexpected treat for a plant lover to find!

There are so many more...but those are a few of the memories that come to mind when I look at my Christmas tree.

I like to be surrounded by happy memories.  It's a reminder that life is good, even on a day when it seems like maybe it's not.

Our Christmas tree is a reminder of life's blessings.  It's a week past Christmas, and I've got to take it down.  I hate to do it!  It's like packing, putting it together is way more fun when you have something exciting to anticipate.  Taking a tree down, like unpacking, mean's the party's over.

Time to get back to reality.  Onward and upward!

A few fall flowers

I guess my husband's right, this kind of has turned in to a gardening blog...a little bit anyway.  Problem is, I haven't been thrifting too much lately, so haven't had too much to post.  But I do have some fall flowers - in my "new" thrifted vase, so I thought I would share.

First, a pic of some of my fall flowers this year:

Here are some of my flowers outside in October, and here they are inside (below), the day I brought them in after the first freeze outside.  They were still so pretty, I couldn't bring myself to put them in the garage, so I put them on my coffee table.

Except for the pink geranium on the right, they are still blooming strong in December!

I'm actually going to have to move them to a bedroom so I can make space for the Christmas poinsettias.

I bought this pretty orange begonia at a half-price plant sale on August 1st; it was $2.

It was small then!

I thought it would be perfect to have around in the fall (the orange color has faded a little), and I put it in the dining room for Thanksgiving.

I bought the vintage leaf container at a flea market for a few dollars years ago, I think it makes a lovely fall planter.

I read an article in an old Ideals magazine a few months ago about begonias.  The author wrote about how begonias will bloom all winter indoors, if you bring them in the house when summer ends.  How did I never know this?

I always miss seeing flowers indoors during the winter; according to this article, begonias fill this void.  I will be giving my begonias prime window space this winter to see how they do!

Remember this really cool, large mid-century vase I found at the church basement sale last summer for $5?  I'd been waiting to use it!

I love the design and the gilded-edged leaves.

It's tall and so, so pretty!

I bought these for my Thanksgiving flowers this year.

I have to admit, my first attempt with this vase failed.  I bought some flowers in October, and even though I thought they were enough, they didn't come near to filling this vase.  This is a large vase!  It's harder to fill than it looks.  Trying to affordably fill really big vases is a challenge.

Flower arranging is much harder than it looks, and I'm learning as I go.

I've also found that I often pick flowers I think are perfect for a particular container, but then when I put them in, I don't like the color combinations.  Or they just don't look right for some other reason.  But it's a fun learning process.

Finally, I found this planter one day at an antique store in October:

I've amassed a small collection of vintage turkeys that I love to bring out in November, but this is my first planter!

He was $8.  I've seen others in the past, but they were more expensive, so I passed.

I thought this little guy was a great deal.

Here he is with his flowers!

I was debating between two different colors of carnations, and I loved these purple-blue ones, but when I put them in I wished they stood out a little more.  (Like the others I almost bought would have.)

Like I said, flower arranging is hard.

But I'm enjoying him anyway, and have a better idea now what to fill him with next year.

Anyway, I've currently got orange flowers and turkey planters around the house with the Christmas poinsettias.  So I'm definitely on trend with the "Thanksmas" holiday blend this year.

Why not?  Everyone else is doing it!

A couple of vintage planters

I've always loved vintage planters, and over the past few years, as I've been wandering antique shops and thrift stores, I've seen some sweet ones.

Not only do I love planters, but as time as passed I've found myself becoming more and more of a plant collector.  I'm growing lot of plants, and every time I see flowers I'm imagining in my head how to arrange them in a vase somehow.  So I've found myself collecting planters (I just have a few, but enough to call it a collection, I guess).  I only buy them, however, if the price is really low.  That makes them really hard to resist.

Here are two I bought this summer.  I just put flowers in them for the first time, so I thought I'd share:

Isn't he the sweetest??  ❤❤

It's hard to resist a cute puppy...I don't remember what I paid for this Royal Copley planter, but I think he was under $20.  I've often seen planters like him for much more, so I thought his price was good.

These mid-century planters are adorable.

I saw this little squirrel and thought he was perfect for fall.

Not sure why squirrels and owls always feel fall-ish to me, but they do.

This little guy was $3 at my favorite flea market in upstate New York.

Two carnations and he's complete!  It's nice to have little planters that don't require a lot of flowers to fill.

That's it for now.  2 vintage planters + 1 bunch of carnations = 1 day brightened up for me.🙂 

A farewell to summer - some summer scenes

I can't believe it's over already, but it seems to be the way it always goes.

I thought I'd share a few highlight pics of summer; despite a lot of rain, it was still a beautiful one.

July 4th fireworks over the river.

Small town, so zero traffic problems and a million great places to watch them from.

Can't really ask for more than that.

Free sunset and symphony concert at the fort.

This is one of my favorite events of summer.

This photo was taken during the concert.

💗

This waterfall is 45 minutes from where I grew up, and I never knew about it until last year!

Next time I'm wearing a bathing suit.

View from the living room window.

I hadn't cleaned it yet, but I still love this pic!

More fireworks, but with drones too!

And over the lake this time...

A lot of summer days with weather like this.

Some stormy days are the most beautiful.

First boat ride where we stayed out after dark.

The city looks beautiful all lit up.

I'm always grateful for the beautiful things I get to see, and I try not to take them for granted.  These pictures are all from the small town where I grew up, and I certainly didn't appreciate it back then as I do now.  And wherever we go, we always try to be near the water!

Summer's over, on to fall!  So much beauty in this season already. 🍁

The best church basement sale!

About a month ago, I was out and about when I stumbled across a flyer for a church basement sale going on across town.  It had been a while since I'd been to a church basement sale, so I thought I'd check it out.

This one was in the basement of an enormous Catholic church, and it seemed like it had a million donors.  Not only was there a lot of great stuff, but it was super cheap!  There was furniture and home decor galore...it made for a fun afternoon!

I ended up carrying two big boxes of stuff to my car; the whole bill was just $47.50.  Not bad!  Here are a few of my favorite things I got:

I've always loved these vintage wooden baskets.  (What a lot of effort went in to making this!)

But I've never seen one for $2 (like this one) before!

I want to line it and use it as a planter.

There was something about the mid-century design of this vase that I just loved.

You can't tell how big it is from the photo; it's very large!

$5.

Did I need it?  No.

Who cares?  It was $5.

I just love these little egg vases; I think they're perfect for spring flowers.

A $5 Fenton hobnail handkerchief vase?  Score!

I love the style of these vases.

Someone didn't know what they were pricing...

I bought a bunch of never burned candles and wax melts for about $6.

 I always pick up games and puzzles for the lake house (or me if I don't' already have them).

These were $1 each and in like-new condition.

What else did I buy?  Well, I got quite a few books for a dollar each (or less).  I scored a bundle of little garden flags - there were about 15, and all in good shape - for $5.  Now I have garden flags for every season, including St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day.  (I probably never would have bought those new, but they're nice to have.)

I also got a really nice outdoor flower pot for $2, some never-used, large Pampered Chef cookie stamps (in their original boxes with instructions) for $1 each and a pretty stained glass nativity set for $2.

Such a fun afternoon!  I like to be able to change things around in my house and garden without spending a lot.  I like having new board games and books to read and cookie stamps for a few dollars.  It's nice to have some new things without feeling guilty about spending a lot of money.

Church basement sale, thanks for the good time!  Hope to see you again next summer. 😇

Vintage in Vermont, part 2

Thought I'd share a few more pics of some cool old stuff in Vermont.  That's one purpose of this blog, right?  Here we go:

Here is The Inn at Weatherfield.

As soon as I saw the photo, I knew this was the place to stay.

It was on twenty acres, had beautiful outdoor areas, and all the early historical charm you could ask for!

Side view of the inn, built in 1792.

The innkeepers are Bulgarian, and have only been running the property for six months.

They were amazing!  

The restaurant in the inn was fantastic. 

The old posts and beams, and multiple fireplaces were enchanting.

Must be so cozy in fall and winter.

A couple of the covered bridges we saw.

This is the longest covered bridge in Vermont.

The sign on the front of this one says, "Walk your horses or pay $2 fine."

And here's one last interesting discovery (to me at least) from the Vermont Antique Mall.  But first, here is a pic of a container I bought a couple of years ago at a thrift store.  I keep it in my blue and white room and use it as a plant pot.

I love this little carved out 3D scene.  This container had no cover, and it was by itself, so I didn't know if it was just a single container or part of a canister set.

It was the perfect size for a plant.

It was just a couple of dollars, and I thought it was a lot more interesting than the typical plant pot.

So I was really surprised to see this little set (with lids!) at the store.

These were black and white instead of blue.

Each one has a different Currier and Ives-type scene.

There is no maker mark anywhere on them, so I don't know who made them or when.

I just loved them though!

Well, now I'm not just wondering about what happened to the lid of mine, but where his two friends went?  Did they all break?  I do wonder sometimes about the back story of things you see in thrift stores, like, how does one single china cup end up on a shelf?  Or 3 salad plates and nothing else.  There must have been more, right?  

Pretty sure no one else ever wonders about these things.

Someone's got to do it, I guess.

Vintage in Vermont

I am in New York for the summer once again, in the town where I grew up.  I've been trying to take advantage of my location; I didn't realize until I was an adult how so many great destinations are so near to where I am.  I've always loved New England: the architecture, the weather, the coast, the history.  I've been trying to visit somewhere new each time I'm here, so last weekend we drove to Vermont.

The Vermont border is only a few hours from where we are; I never knew that growing up.  I remember visiting Vermont once as a child.  So I chose an inn (built in 1792!) for this trip and we took the backroads.  What a beautiful drive!

I had no idea really what was in Vermont (besides skiing - but this is summer); after googling a bit, I chose the destination of the village of Woodstock.  We did a lot in four days: we visited the Calvin Coolidge homestead complex in Plymouth Notch (a fascinating afternoon), spent a day at the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller mansion and state park (both touring and hiking), visited three covered bridges, saw some amazing gardens (I learned a lot of new plants!) and ate some really great food.

It was such a beautiful, mountainous state - my new goal is to return both in fall and winter.

On our last day, my patient husband took me to a garden center and a great antique mall.  It's always fun to see what the antique scene in other states is!  I spent thirty minutes at a huge antique store at the end of one day, it was very high-end and had lovely things; it was fun to look at but almost like walking through a museum - not the kind of antique store where I could buy anything.  But as expected, in a very old state, there were lots of old and very historic items, plus lots of Early American furniture, paintings and folk art, etc.

The second antique store was more my speed.  (Read: affordable.  More vintage than antique.)

The Vermont Antique Mall came with some unexpected bonuses:

It was a huge complex with great food places, a Vermont artisan shop, and even a little Alpaca petting zoo!

It was also right next to a massive gorge - which is apparently one of the main attractions in the state (we didn't even know it was there) - so got to see that too.

So what was interesting in vintage Vermont?

For whatever reason, there seemed to be a lot of cow creamers.

Must have been big at some point.

Fun fact we learned: apparently Vermont is a big cheese-making state, and has a cheese trail.

At the Calvin Coolidge homestead - which was a farm back in the day - there was a shop selling cheddar made with the original recipe of Calvin Coolidge's father.

We bought all kinds of cheese there - it was delicious!

This picture caught my attention because the tag says, "$22.  Scene from Bible."

I kept trying to figure out what biblical scene this would be...and is it actually a biblical scene at all?

Any guesses?  I gave up.

I LOVED this old blue glass cough drop jar.

It was pretty big.

I've seen this once or twice before. I was so tempted to buy it, because I have a blue glass collection in my lake room, and this little box is so charming.

But I actually have nowhere to put it...and it was $45 - worth it, but I usually only buy stuff if I think its undervalued.  (That's part of the fun.)

I thought this 50's-era vase was fantastic!

I'm so drawn to mid-century style; I love the illustration style and I'm not sure why poodles were so popular then, but this random poodle on the vase just makes it.

But I have no reason to buy a planter for a new baby.

It's in great condition!

So, when I arrived at the store, I was hoping to find something small that could be my Vermont souvenir.  But I didn't want to buy something just to buy something.

I had almost been through the whole place when I finally saw it, on the bottom shelf in the corner of a booth.  But here it is::

So, of course I forgot to take a photo of the complete set before it was wrapped (and I wasn't going to ask the shop lady to unwrap it) - but there were ten of these small, amber apple bowls, as well as one large salad bowl (also in the shape of an apple).

I LOVE vintage stuff like this, and I was sure it would cost more than what I would pay.

So I was shocked to see the tag said $15. $15!!

These are thick glass and good size bowls, unlike some of the vintage stuff you find that's really only able to hold small portions.

I think a serving set like this would be from the 1970's. (?)

Anyway, it just reminded me of fall (I make a lot of apple recipes in autumn, also the amber color reminds me of leaves).  I love to have people for dinner and have special dishes for the seasons.  This set was in perfect condition; all the apple stems were perfectly intact.

This will be fun to use!

I might follow this up with one more Vermont post tomorrow...I'm realizing there was a lot of cool stuff to share.  More to come!