Saturday, October 31, 2009

Surprise in the Basement





I went downstairs to the basement this morning to get some cardboard for an etsy sale and to turn on lights for my friend who was coming over to look at some merchandise in the basement. I was about to head over to one section to turn on a light when I saw something long on the floor. The first thought I had was to go over and kick it out of the way, thinking it was a piece of paper or straw from a broom or something.

Well, it was neither. It was a snake. And it was looking at me with its beady little eyes and raising its head like it was hunting for prey. YUK! I immediately called Tim from my cell phone and informed him that we had a slight problem in the basement and he'd better get down here immediately and remove it. Unfortunately, I had to stick around to keep an eye on the snake in case it decided to slither away and hide. I did run upstairs quickly and get the camera so my unexpected discovery could at least be documented.

I made sure that Tim realized he had one chance to get this thing and he'd better not miss! He put on heavy duty gloves, got a trash bag and grabbed it. He gave me all the grisly details about it slithering around in the bag on the way upstairs and outside, yuck!

He released it out by the ex-ice cream parlor and we can now only hope that it doesn't come back in and that it didn't have friends or siblings down there.

I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with my reaction to this one. The mouse in the laundry room incident last year had me screaming bloody murder and seeking fast refuge on top of the countertop. I almost had to be commited. The "waterbug" that jumped out when I opened the dishwasher had me so traumatized that I haven't opened the dishwasher but once in the last month and that was with the aid of a big towel! (Thank God for quarterly pest control...) I haven't had to see the birds Tim keeps finding in the attic so that's been okay. I guess since this guy didn't move I didn't feel as threatened.

I've apparently come a long way since I discovered a garter snake in my outdoor tent I got as a present when I was almost 6. I called my dad at work, begged him to come home and get it and I never stepped foot back in that tent again.

But please, can the wildlife and insect population please stay out of my house? If not, I'm moving to a penthouse suite on the 100th floor of some high rise building!

Friday, October 30, 2009

All Set For Gym Class





Some days just do not turn out as planned! I slept in a bit this morning and made it downstairs a little before 9 am. Checked emails, talked to Tim and started to watch Regis and Kelly's Halloween show. I was planning on a day of marathon etsy listing. The phone rang and on the other end was a local ebayer whose husband had stopped at local moving sale on his way to work. She said they had some buttons and thought of me.

I pulled up my hair, threw on some clothes and didn't even take the time to apply the normally required makeup. I zoomed down the road and was there within 15 minutes.

Two hours later I had a car full of almost 100 old gym locker baskets from New Albany High School as well as old metal milk crates. A few other goodies including one big shoe box of buttons were amongst the galvanized treasures.

They were a great deal and I worked hard for this find let me tell you! I pulled, tugged, sorted, dug, lifted, lugged, carried and couldn't see out of my back window at all! When I got home, I lugged 80 some baskets plus 12 milk crates to the basement. A few remained in my car for a friend who placed an order.

I was tired, dirty, sore, I broke one fingernail and squished each of my pinky fingers in the process! One pinky even has a nice little bruise on it.

Fortunately, it was unseasonable warm today....in the 70s. So, I had great weather for this unexpected expedition and the loading and unloading that followed!

I may keep a few of these but over time I plan to put them in my etsy shop!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

The Case of the Missing Chocolate Chip Cookies


I stopped at McDonalds Friday on the way to my mom's house. I purchased three chocolate chip cookies for the energy I would need to help her dust for unexpected company! I ended up only eating one cookie while there and thought for sure I'd packed up the other two in my tote bag and brought them home with me.

Well, that night I couldn't find them anywhere. I looked in the kitchen, I looked in the microwave (where we sometimes toss cookies and such), I looked in the front hall, the car; you name it I looked. The cookies were nowhere to be found and I finally decided they must have accidentally been thrown away at mom's house.

Until I walked into the front parlor late Friday night. There on the floor were my missing cookies. Someone or something had chewed a hole in the top of the bag, removed one cookie and taken a bite out of each side. The other cookie remained intact inside the bag. Apparently, whatever tried my cookie didn't like it and left it be on the floor.

I'm pretty convinced that what did all this was feline, buff colored and named Junior.

So, the mystery was finally solved and the cookies went in the trashcan after all.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Article on Vintage Indie

On the Road with Contributing Editor Elizabeth Young: Tea Leaf Cottage Orange, CA

My husband and I recently visited Southern California for our anniversary. After 2 1/2 days at Disneyland, we rented a car and ventured into the historic district of Orange. Easy to access either by freeway or main roads, this charming little town is considered the "antiques capital of southern California". It definitely lives up to its reputation.

There are many antique malls as well as individually owned and operated shops. At least two vintage clothing stores line the streets. However, one shop stood out among all the rest. Tea Leaf Cottage, owned by Joan Alford, is a delightful mix of antiques and gift items. Specializing in romantic decor, the booths are filled with vintage purses, jewelry, hats, dolls, stationery, glassware, china, chandeliers, pillows, shabby chic items and more. The displays are eye catching and beautiful.

Alford purchased the business 8 years ago. She had been a dealer with the original owners. The shop now has 6 different dealers who have been with her the entire time. Diane Sedo, author of Taking Tea with Alice, has a booth at Tea Leaf Cottage. She has been featured in Romantic Homes on several occasions. Alford moved the shop to its current location 4 1/2 years ago. The building itself was built in the late 1800s and has the original tin ceiling and wood floors. Soft music playing in the background completes the attention to detail and beauty one will find here.

Gift certificates and layaway are offered.



Address: 141 N. Glassell
Orange, CA 92866

Phone: 714-771-7752

Hours: 10-5 or 11-6 depending on the season, extended hours during the Christmas season and special town events.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Scrapbook Layouts





Finally! Some scrapbooking! Monday was a holiday at work so Mom, Annette and I went and did some much needed scrapbooking at Archivers! I hadn't scrapped in so long I had forgotten how at first!

Finally the mojo kicked in and with the help of some layout ideas I'd pulled from magazines, I managed to create 6 pages. One used last year's Christmas cards and I still need to put the date on the layouts so that one is not pictured.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Harvest Homecoming Part II


















Saturday brought much better weather to Southern Indiana and Harvest Homecoming! Tim and I walked down a bit before noon, stopping at a yard sale and taking pictures of fall decorations along the way.

I enjoyed another Angus beef burger at the Farmer's Market (having gone there many a Saturday in August to take them home for lunch!) while Tim munched on another slice of cardboard pizza and pumpkin shaped sugar cookies. Finally found the church ladies that make a pound cake almost as good as my mom's, a better batch of buckeyes to take home and ran into a few friends amongst the crowds.

I purchased the Harvest Homecoming cookbook and hope to find some good recipes! We strolled around a bit and then picked up some Papa John's pizza to bring home and some special requests made by mom for her supper!

My chauffeur drove me down again Sunday afternoon to pick up the last of the Angus beef burgers for the season and some other goodies we decided we couldn't live without!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Harvest Homecoming


Here's what it looked like Thursday afternoon. Booths closed early and the festival itself was closed down by 5pm. Here's hoping for much better weather this weekend!

Friday, October 9, 2009

My Assistant Reads Comic Books



Junior. Vintage Christmas comic book. Pictures for Etsy. Need I say more?

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Indy Antique Advertising Show













I know, I know I'm so behind on blog updating. Unfortunately, it's had to take a back burner to other things such as life in general and completely revamping my etsy storage areas! Due to a collapsed shelving unit that was carrying too many heavy books, I decided to obtain better, stronger shelving (which my hubby was kind enough to put together for me!) and to take the opportunity to reorganize for the better! I threw away a ton of boxes and went through things that hadn't seen the light of day for months! It's all getting better now! Of course, it is soon to be Christmas decorating season at our house and also time to start listing Christmas items on etsy so I still probably won't be around here much!

Okay, so the last Saturday in September found Tim, Mom and I at the Indy Ad show. You would think getting up at 6:30 would put us there when the doors opened at 10 but we never can seem to get up there too early! I think it was almost 11:30 by the time we arrived! Anyway, the show seems to get smaller and smaller each time (it's twice a year) which is sad. We enjoy it so much. It was nice to chat with our dealer friends and look at all the beauties. We each found a thing or two to buy and then we ran over to the Stewart's flea market before it closed and I found some great things for my etsy shop!

It was a long day and we stopped at Shapiro's in downtown Indy for Mom and then on to the Southport Antique Mall where we got to spend about an hour before they closed. By then it was 8pm and we went over to Cheeseburger in Paradise (gift card was safely tucked away in a drawer at home, sigh...) where Tim and I ate. We got into a bad rainstorm coming home and even Tim was stressed about it for about 45 minutes when he could see nothing in front of him! Fortunately, we made it home safely!