Chairs, Table, Cows, and Marge…

 

I have another obsession these days- I love tables, whether new or vintage. Everywhere I go, I see something I like. Now I know I’m running out of room in my house for new furniture additions, but when I spotted this $20 yellow and white table in the window of the Hospice gift store in Troy, Ohio this weekend, I made darn sure it would come home with me! 

My new table is accented by the two red folding chairs that came from Expressions of the Home, a store that is my newest “go- to” destination for vintage finds. They were $8 apiece.

 

How fun is this star in the seat of the chair!

 

 

 

 

Here are the table and chairs in my laundry room. The table has an enamel top and it makes the ideal spot for me to fold clean clothes.

 

 

 

 

 

And when I’m not folding the tidy whiteys, it will make for a comfy place to sit down and do a little catch-up paperwork. I’ve topped the table with a few accessories to tie in the gardening theme I have going in the room.

 

 

 

 

Originally purchased as Christmas tree ornaments, these mini gardening tools look cute tucked into a small clay pot. They were clearance items at a local nursery a few years back.

 

 

 

 

My sister-in-law created and sent this card to us on Valentine’s Day. I saved it and tucked it into an old flower frog.

 

 

 

 

 

I moved the watering can to the table from its former home by the utility sink. It came from a booth at the Tipp City antique show last year.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I know you couldn’t help but notice this badly stained framed cow and milkmaid picture that I bought it at the antique and garden show held in Troy a few weeks ago. It’s in pretty rough shape, but it just called to me when I saw it. And since no one  ever asks to see the laundry room and I don’t have a housekeeper, it will be only be seen by me. Beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder in this instance!

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s “Marge”, the owner of Expressions of the Home. I met her at her booth at the antique and garden show and began calling her “Marge” because the sign on her tent said, “Marge’s Greenhouse.”  It started out as a joke between us and ended up with a lot more of her customers calling her that.  Maybe I’ll eventually call her by her real name- but to me, she will always be Marge.

 

Marge’s shop is filled with architectural finds, old and funky furniture,  and lots of cool accessories.

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I didn’t get to buy the blue square table she had in her window with my red chairs because it had been sold only minutes before I asked her about it. So I’m really glad she suggested that I stop at the Hospice store before I made the trip back to Dayton. If I hadn’t, I never would have found the yellow table. It goes so much better in the laundry room than the blue one ever would have!  Things DO tend to work out in the long run, don’t they?   

Hope you have a great week.

                                                      

 

 

I’m linking up with a few parties this week.  Click on the blog buttons below to visit the hostesses and their party participants. You never know what you’ll  get to see!

       

 

 

                                                                         

 

                                                                                

 

Wedding Day for Annie

 

We just returned from Milwaukee, where we had the pleasure of witnessing the wedding of our niece and god-child, Annie Sullivan.

The happy couple, Annie and John Bulfin.

 

 

 

It was a beautiful wedding, held in an old church affiliated with the parish school where Annie was a counselor.

 

 

The rain began during Mass, but the wedding party traipsed under umbrellas to Marquette’s Joan of Arc Chapel for photos. Those sure are  stylish rain boots under Annie’s raised gown!

 

 

 

We stayed at the historic Phister Hotel, site of  the wedding reception.  This picture, from the hotel’s website, shows the ballroom where the reception was held.  Check out the ornate ceiling and the chandeliers. 

 

 

 

Our table was the rowdiest at the reception and for once, it was not my fault!  Our nephew’s girlfriend kind of got us going and we toasted ourselves over and over again.  But since I’m usually (okay- ALWAYS) the one who instigates the singing, laughing, and just nuttiness in general, I got blamed!  Cindy doesn’t look at all like the trouble-maker she was, does she? 

 

 

 

Always one to love my desserts, I just had to check out the cake before it was cut.

 

 

 

 

Since we drove to the wedding, I was able to bring home one of the floral centerpieces from the reception.  It is now gracing the foyer table and  making the room smell really sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I’m so glad that we were able to travel to Milwaukee to celebrate Annie’s wedding. It was Mr. Sullivan’s goal to be able to dance at the reception, and although he is still walks with a limp and can’t fully bend his knee, he still cut quite the rug on the dance floor Friday night!  He’s still working really hard to exercise his knee in order to achieve more flexion.  With his determination and the help of our brother-in-law, Steve, and my girlfriend, Phyllis, I think he’ll make a lot of progress.

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I’m linking with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. I’m still very new at creating mosaics and haven’t done much experimenting, but I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the floral centerpiece from the wedding.

                                                                 

Birds and the Bees and Tea

 

 As I was unpacking my bags this morning from yesterday’s shopping excursion at the Garden and Antique Show, I acted on a whim to set a table with a couple of my purchases.

It’s a gray and overcast day again, so what better way to perk me up than to drink a nice cup of tea and savor some biscuits and lady fingers? Mr. Sullivan and I both enjoyed a cup before he went off to work.

This little metal bee skep was my very last purchase of the day. I had just finished paying for a shelf and garden ornament with the last of my dollar bills and a handful of  quarters when I saw it.  I held it up as I was walking out of the vendor’s tent. The woman laughed and said, “fifty cents.”  Well, you know I dug down deep in my purse for the last of my nickels and dimes to pay for it! 

I intend on cutting a small piece of window screen to fill each of the bee’s wings to give them a little more texture. 

 

 

 

The bee teapot was a frugal find at only $2.00.  You can almost imagine that you hear the buzzing sound of those two little bees…  I set it upon a vintage scale that is from a business down the road in Cincinnati.

 

 

 

I like these lady fingers from Trader Joe’s. They’re crunchy and low-fat. So you know that gives me permission to eat more than a few! How could I resist?

But my favorite treat is the shortbread cookie made with Earl Gray tea. I found these at Pier One in the clearance section for $1.48. I bought all that they had left in stock. These cookies came from my last box, so I limited myself to only two of them.  Now that was an effort!

 

 

You may remember this chippy birdcage that usually sits on my checkerboard table.  It’s filled with sweet smelling reindeer moss and two sweet birdies make their home within.

 

 

 

 

 

The table is nothing fancy, by any means.  Just my everyday white ironstone dishes and some Thompson floral stoneware  on a thrifted lace table topper.  I just thought it might be a little nicer to have a place setting for each of us instead of just handing Mr. S  a mug of tea. *grin*   It just made for a special morning snack and a chance for him to see some of my purchases.  After all, he helped fund their purchase!

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This short post came as a whim, and I just acted upon it! I’ll be back again soon to share the bigger purchases from the show on Saturday.

                                    

 

 

I’m linking this post with the following parties. Please click on the buttons to visit the hostesses and their party participants.

 

 

 

                            

 

The Need for Back-up Batteries…

 

Why, oh why is it that when I actually remember to pack the camera in the car and I’m all set to take  photos, that the “blankety-blank” camera starts beeping at me and displays the following message across the screen- “Time to change the batteries.”    Aaaack!!

It happened to me today when I was shopping at the fantabulous “Lost Creek Garden and Antique Show” outside  of Troy, Ohio. The show was held on private property, with the admission price going to charity. The property was beautiful- lush trees and flowers  throughout the yard, brick out-buildings, a century old farmhouse…. 

But who has but just a few pictures of it all because she didn’t pack back-up batteries?  Moi!  I got off a few pictures before the camera screen faded to black.

I wandered the grounds for several hours, visiting booth after booth of primitives, antiques, garden ornaments, plants, and artisan crafts. To say that I was in heaven is an understatement. You know my addiction to shopping for these kinds of things!

These hitching posts would be a conversation piece in many a garden. Love the little sign…    So who of you needs a hitching post for your husband?  *grin*

Designs such as these are examples of the types of greenery available for sale. I would have loved to have bought multiple planters to take home for the patios. But I remembered that there’s that simple, little matter of the brown thumb I possess.  Those plants could all be dead within a month…..

I am seriously coveting this old door. The vendor is an acquaintance of mine- Nancy Thomas. She’s the one I drove 40-some miles to shop at her yard sale a couple of weeks ago.

Nancy sells her wares at numerous shows in the area. In fact, she’ll be in Tipp City on June 26 for the Tipp City Street Fair.  Some of you may remember I found lots of goodies at that show last year!  See that post here.

I’m going to tidy up my stash of purchases and get things organized before I post them.  Just wanted to show you where I spent the majority of my day. Right now, I’m waiting for the batteries to finish charging so I can get started on my picture-taking. And you can be sure I’ll  be putting some fresh  batteries into the camera case so I’ll be ready for my next excursion!