How would YOU illustrate "LOUD"?

MARCHPHOTOADAY

I've joined the Marchphotoaday Challenge along with Mama Tink and some other bloggers. Basically, every participant posts a picture of a specific subject for each day of the month.

Today's subject is "loud":

Yep, that's our "K"!!
You'd have to know her to appreciate the fact that
she should be the illustration in Webster's dictionary
for the word "loud."

Here's the list if you'd like to play along with the March Photo Challenge, too.

"Perspective"

MARCHPHOTOADAY

I've joined the Marchphotoaday Challenge along with Mama Tink and some other bloggers. Basically, every participant posts a picture of a specific subject for each day of the month.

Today's subject is "window":

Please ignore the junk piled on the sofa, but this is
my view of the world from my living room.

Through those lace sheers, I can watch the world go by. Well, at least the part of the world that drives up and down the hill in this semi-closed community.

I never fully appreciated the view until my Mom became wheelchair-bound and would come to visit us for a few days every few weeks. She always asked that we give her a clear shot to wheel over and sit by the window during the day while we were both at work. She found the view "stimulating". She lived with my brother and his family at the time, on a dead-end street where there was really limited traffic and her view from the window was mostly the hedge across the street with just a glimpse of the house beyond. Occasionally, she'd see a car go by. By contrast, there was a tremendous amount of activity she could see from my window.

Recently, I was reminded of the exciting view we have. (Yes, there is a touch of sarcasm there, but just a touch.) Our next door neighbor, whose front window faces the same view, commented on being able to see so much more from our house. Momentarily, I was confused and then realized that the hill rising steeply between our doors and the street is much higher in front of his house. His colonial has a living room that is flush with ground level, mine is higher as we have a split foyer. He sees his own front yard and grass when he looks out. We see our entire court and the street and houses beyond. It's all in the perspective, isn't it?

A FB friend put it all in great perspective this morning with this statement:

A good life is when you assume nothing, do more, need less, smile often, dream big, laugh a lot and realize how blessed you are.

Yep, it's all in the perspective.

Here's the list if you'd like to play along with the March Photo Challenge, too.

A little vintage shopping therapy ...

The Big Guy left me home alone for a few hours this morning. (You'd think he'd know better, after all these years!) So, I relished in having the place to myself for awhile, and, then ...


A light bulb went off!!!!

Hmmm, I had money in my pocket and a real big thrift store right around the corner! (He doesn't like me to go there without supervision as he's trying to get rid of all that extra stuff around the house. Thus, the development of the Vintage Section in my Etsy shop.) I mean, he doesn't mind if I'm going strictly to look for supplies like ribbons and lace or the occasional brand new (with store tags) lampshade to paint. He doesn't want more figurines for the collections we already have (the ones we're NOT selling off) or "interesting" finds that I thought I couldn't live without.

So, after deep consideration (about 5 minutes of thought), I took off for an adventure. I didn't do bad. Well, not tooo bad. I only picked up a few items that were bea-u-ti-ful! All of which I think are perfect for painting and reselling. Lucky for me I had plenty of time to get them home and hide them carefully. I know. I could justify their purchase with the "they're for the shop" argument but then he might point out I already have a stock pile of "To Be Painted" pieces. (Also, lucky for me, he doesn't read this blog!)

This is what I grabbed, for a mere ten spot!!

The one in the front, to the left, is a beautiful amethyst color. (The picture just doesn't do it justice!) The small one on the right is a solid black heavy glass. (At the moment, I'm thinking either white daisies or bright red poppies on that one.) Of course, the blue ones will probably feature fish. I seem to be able to really move fish and seascapes on blue glass. I find those canning jar style pieces are very popular lately so I've always got an eye out for them.

As of today, I'm vowing to steer clear of that place until these are painted and listed in the shop. Please, wish me luck on this one! (I mean, the only way in and out of my house is to go right past their driveway!)


MARCHPHOTOADAY

I've joined the Marchphotoaday Challenge along with Mama Tink and some other bloggers. Basically, every participant posts a picture of a specific subject for each day of the month.

Today's subject is "Something You Wore":

Those are my trusty crocs, right where I kicked them off.
Gawd, I LUV those shoes!

Here's the list if you'd like to play along, too.

Just a photo today...

MARCHPHOTOADAY

I've joined the Marchphotoaday Challenge along with Mama Tink and some other bloggers. Basically, every participant posts a picture of a specific subject for each day of the month.

Today's subject is "5 PM":

It was a toss up between the usual daily nap or
happy hour games. Simply depends on the day.

Here's the list if you'd like to play along, too.

Moving on into March...

Can't believe we're well into March already!! Where has the time gone? More importantly, why haven't I been posting all this time? The answer to both questions - "I haven't the foggiest idea!!" (Come to think of it, we have had a lot of fog lately!)

I usually look forward to March as winter in our part of the country is generally pretty much done for by the middle of the month. If it wasn't for a calendar, we probably wouldn't know we had even had winter this year! We've had less than 2 inches of snow all season (knock on wood !) and there isn't any predicted for the rest of this week here. I must say, we did have some heavy flurries for about 15 minutes today - close to a white out! It was 40 degrees at the time! WEIRD!!!

St. Patrick's Day is also something to look forward to. I like the party atmosphere taken on by the entire community. I really enjoy the corn beef and cabbage. It's a dish The Big Guy isn't so crazy about so we really do eat it only once a year. I love the excuse to make it. I can take or leave green beer but it does give the joint a festive air so, go ahead, pass me one! And, hey, where would be without at least the possibility of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - put there by leprechans, of course!

><> ... ><> ... ><> ... ><> ... ><> ... ><> ... ><> ... ><>

MARCHPHOTOADAY

I've decided I really need a push to get me back to daily posting here so I've joined the Marchphotoaday Challenge along with Mama Tink and some other bloggers. Basically, every participant posts a picture of a specific subject for each day of the month. I think I can do this!! Wish me luck. (Please.)

Today's subject is "a smile":




Here's the list if you'd like to play along, too.

Is it still February? (Feels like April!)

Okay ---
Posting every day in February hasn't worked out well either. Has it ? I may have to go for March for that new beginning.

Seriously, I could give a long list of where my time has gone, but, suffice it to say, I've been busy. Seems good weather takes away those long dull winter days that never seem to end and lend themselves so well to playing, er, make that "working", online. Instead, the warmer air and bright sunshine beckon us to venture out, and, "venture" we did !

Instead of gingerly making our way out on icy roads, only going as far as necessary and coming home to hole up against the cold, we've made day trips, visited friends and even took another mini-vacation. We finally worked that Williamsburg, Va trip into our busy schedule.

That trip was sort of a spur of the moment move. I suggested it to The Big Guy about 9:30 on a warm, sunny Friday morning and we were packed and on the road by noon. You'd think after several decades with me, he'd learn to approach my brainstorms with caution but he was quick to agree.


It was a beautiful day for a scenic drive. By the time we got there and checked into our hotel, it was time for dinner and that was our big activity of the night. We went to one of our favorites, Captain George's Seafood Smorgasboard. This is one of the best spreads anywhere (and we've checked out quite a few!) They also have locations in Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach and Kill Devil Hills. Dinner was fantastic, as always. Good thing, because the rest of the trip was a bust!


Well, at least the Williamsburg portion. My original plan was to go out for dinner on Friday (I used that as bait to get The Big Guy to make the trip!) and then, on Saturday, I wanted to go to The Pottery (the Grandaddy of all outlet shopping in the East) to shop for a few hours.

All the tourist literature I picked up down there indicated The Pottery was under renovation but was open during construction. I checked carefully to see how early they opened on Saturday and we were on schedule to get there when they opened the gate at 9 a.m. About a block before we got there, I was glancing through one last visitor's guide I'd picked up at breakfast and came across an ad that said The Pottery would be closed in February for construction. Uh Oh. It happened to be February 4th !!

About that time, the gate came into sight with a big banner reading, "See you in March!!" I really was quite proud of my man. He simply sighed, very loudly, and said, "What now?" I recovered quickly, pointing out that there is a standard outlet mall just across the road and the store he normally buys his jeans at was in that mall. He needed jeans, didn't he? After waiting until those stores opened at 10, he did, in fact, buy two pairs of jeans. We picked up a Ravens sweatshirt for one of the kids at a fantastic price and I bought a pair of shoes at the Croc outlet. (Of course, all those outlet stores, except for the Croc store, are also at the outlet mall near home. We didn't need to travel 4 1/2 hours to get there.)

Okay, it was now 11 a.m. and we were done. So, we headed toward home. Not much conversation at that point. When he finally calmed down and spoke, he suggested we drop in and visit with my cousin in Northern Virginia. She's had a lot of medical problems this year and has been tied to the house for most of the last 9-10 months so we haven't seen much of them.

We did stop and visit for an hour or so and we really enjoyed seeing them. I guess it did give our trip purpose and made it all worthwhile.

An added plus was when we were leaving their house, only a block or two down the road, we came across a flock of turkey vultures and a beautiful bald eagle working on a deer carcass right at the side of the road. That's the closest I've ever come to an eagle in the wild! So, all in all, it was a good trip!

What do you think my odds are of getting him to go back in March so I can shop at The Pottery?

February? Already !!!

O.K., well, the goal of posting daily in 2012 hasn't gone well so far. One month down and only one post. Guess that's a "FAIL."

REVISED GOAL for the year: Post DAILY beginning with February 2, 2012. (I was going to make it the 1st but I fell asleep!)

Wish me luck, please!

Atlantic City boardwalk in the January sunshine!!

How we're already a whole month into the year just floors me! Where did the time go? Usually, I get bogged down with the cold and dreary winter weather and the fact that I tend to hibernate rather than venture out during that time but this year has been different. At least, here, in the Mid-Atlantic, it's been unusually warm. We've had several 70 degree days and a lot of days when a coat wasn't necessary, just a sweater or sweatshirt. heck, we've even seen a lot of shorts and flip flops on the street and such.

The view of the ocean from our room at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.
(We had views of both the ocean and the bay from our room!!)

I didn't think we'd done much since the holidays but when I gave it deep thought, we've been fairly busy. We've had houseguests twice this month and squeezed in a mini-vacation ourselves. We spent a couple of nights in Atlantic City at Trump Plaza and, yes, it was warm enough to walk the boardwalk. We even spent time sitting on a bench watching the world go by. We've done a few day trips, too. One to Lancaster, PA and another to Cowtown in Woodstown, NJ (A huge marketplace that's only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays with at least 150 or so vendors in the winter. More in the summer.) We've been to the movies a couple of times and out to dinner often with friends. I squeezed in some major cooking days, too. You know, the kind that keep you in the kitchen for most of the day. (Good news is, that usually means some stock-piled meals in the freezer at the end of the day!) On top of that, business has been extremely good for January. This has been my best sales for January in about 2 decades (since I used to do mall craft shows). That's kept me busy as most of the orders were painted to order although a few were for some vintage pieces.

View of the bayside marshlands from our room at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.

I've worked up a bunch of new designs for the shop. Among them were a number of Valentine's Day onesies, and a whole cupcake line including onesies and crocheted toys. I've done some beautiful lamps although I'm having trouble keeping them in stock. the last one was listed for less than a half hour when it sold! Right now, I have several that I've base-coated but have not yet done the detail work on. Hopefully, I'll finish them up in the next day or two. Also, look for some beautiful painted glass vases soon, too.

This one lasted less than a half-hour.

Today's project has been doing some research for more vintage pieces I need to photograph and list. That can be quite time-consuming. The stumper today has been a pair of white porcelain doves.

For more detailed pics, use this link: http://on.fb.me/zPEd9q

DO ANY OF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THESE DOVES? We know they are at least 30 years old. (They came with The Big Guy and the house. They were a package deal. LOL) I thought they were alabaster for many years but just today really began looking at their marks. They each measure approx. 3 1/2" x 5 1/2' and weigh about a pound each. They have small plastic plugs in the bottom like S & P shakers have. They are actually porcelain, filled with what appears to be white sand! At first, we thought it was salt but neither of us are brave enough to taste it so we've decided it is sand. It is quite grainy. There is a small gold sticker with red writing that states: "Our Own" (in script-like lettering) then, below that "Genuine Porcelain" is printed and then below that the word, "Imported" again, in script like lettering. "Our Own" actually appears to be a brand name. ANY IDEAS?

Well, I need to get busy doing some photos of this vintage stuff so I can get busy and start listing. I full well plan to chat with all of you again tomorrow. (Keep your fingers crossed.)