The Watermelon Crawl

Sunday we went for a big old country ride. We drove about 100 miles in one gigantic circle. We made two stops - one in a very small town at a very small Wal-Mart to use their very small bathroom and one "screech on the brakes we have to stop for this" stop. I spotted this sign by the road. WATERMELONS. We hadn't bought a watermelon yet this year because they are small, expensive and never look very ripe anyway. So, I figured if we were going to buy a fresh watermelon, this would be the place to get it.

A small roadside self-serve watermelon stand. Freshly picked watermelons were scattered on the ground. Each one with a price written in Magic Marker on it's back. There were big ones and smaller ones. Red meat and yellow meat. Long melons and round melons. We looked at them all until we found the perfect one. See it? That one right over there.

This one!

Wait! We need to pay for it!Just drop your money in the box and you have paid for your watermelon.

Easy peasy.

The Bean put the watermelon in the car and we were on our way. Another Sunday in the country complete.

*The watermelon was fantastic!

Goin' to the Chapel...

Sunday we visited St. Catherine's at Bell Gable. I had always heard of a small privately owned chapel that was around here, but I really never knew where it was specifically. Saturday The Bean and I were driving along on a street that we drive on a few times a week. I looked over into a pasture to the left and saw a Bride having her portrait taken. I remembered the Chapel was in that area, so we went and located it. It was closed for the wedding, so we returned on Sunday. I still can't believe that I have been within a half of a block from it three times a week and I never knew it. We will be going back. It is fantastic.

St. Catherine's was built in twelve years by one man without blueprints, plans or anything written down. He planned it all in his head. He even built the scaffolding and the crane that he needed to build the Chapel. The beams were hand hewn from trees fallen in a storm. He built his own moulds to make the trims and castings.
The stained glass windows and doors came from a church in England. The pews are from Missouri.

In 1997, the builder fell 35 feet to the concrete below while building it. His survival was miraculous.
As we looked around the Chapel, a tourguide came to meet us. As I turned to speak to her, realized that we knew each other. She was one of our favorite teachers at the school. As she told us about the Chapel, I asked her how she came to work there. She laughed and told me that her Daddy built it. All the times I talked to her before, I never knew that.

She told us more about the Chapel and how it came to be. It was a special place to visit.

So calm and serene. And, even though it was really hot, it was nice and cool down in the valley around the Chapel.

The entire Chapel only seats 40 people. It is difficult to tell in the photos that it is small. When they have weddings, they put chairs on the lawn out front and open the wide double doors into the Chapel. An open car brings the bride to the Chapel. It must be magical!

I never, ever talk about dying. But, I told the boys I wanted my Memorial Service to be held there. I won't ever mention it again.

If you ever come to visit me, I will take you to the Chapel.

You will love it.

(Yes, I will take you to the Super Cheap thrift too).

Flushed Out Some *JUNK* Today

As I told my pal Oliveoyl last night, I didn't have any plans to go to any sales today. But, you, me and Oliveoyl all know perfectly well that I did, indeed, go to a few sales.

First I wanted to show you that not everything I buy is a wonderful fabulous find.

For instance, his sweet little vintage skiing girl with her doggie. When I unpacked her I discovered her arm is completely missing. It is very obvious in this photo and I swear I should have noticed it. I looked in the car to see if it broke there, but I can't find it. I must check things out better.

Three funny JAPAN guys - once again, I got them home and discovered that all three of them have at one time, had their heads broken off and reglued. Seriously! All three of them! Luckily, they are glued pretty neatly and they still have some cuteness left in them. I only spent a total of $1.00 on all four items, but I wish they wouldn't have been broken. Boo Hiss.

These came from the same sale as the broken stuff. And, I only paid 50¢ for all four pieces. So, factoring in the other $1.00, I still did okay. Each one of these table runners has the two Scotties embroidered on them on both ends. They are so darn cute. I love them. When I picked them up, I planned on selling them, but they have walked into my heart and right into my linen collection.

An old handmade wooden box for 25¢ which was full of old screws, light bulbs and assorted odds and ends and a reproduction copy of the 1900 Sears Catalog for 50¢. I have another copy of the Sears Catalog that I planned on using in collages, but it is so much fun, that I could never cut it up. Now, I can keep one and cut one up. Did you know that a 5 piece Parlor Set (love seat, fainting couch, two chairs and a footstool) cost $15.50 in 1900? Where's that time machine?

A white glass loaf pan for 50¢, old cookie cutter, celluloid buckle, miniature handpainted cottage scene and two spun cotton toadstools - all from the 4/50¢ box. It wouldn't have been a proper weekend if I didn't find some toadstools.

The last sale of the day was a lady selling off the contents of her Mother's craft room. And, I got there late. Craaaaap. I spent $7.00 and it took me and The Bean both to get it all to the car. Lots of vintage trims, vintage velvet ribbons, thread spools, vintage patches, tons of lace yardage, ribbons galore and more and more. Most Etsy bound. These four floral baskets were 25¢ each. They are made of a plastic-y sort of material. They remind me of my old bicycle basket when I was a kid.

I was super excited to find a brand new wet felt felting kit for 50¢ at one sale. They had little and this was the only good thing, but so worth the stop. Only 50¢ to finally give needle felting a try. The 10¢ book has some patterns that I can use for making my softies.

Five of these thingamabobs, doohickeys or whatchamacallits. Not sure what they are, but they were rusty and cool and cheap - 25¢ for all five. Any ideas? I thought maybe hung horizontally to hold vintage tea towels or something.

There's all five of them along with two cool old round bales of rusty wire for $1.00. Good for crafting or creating.

Six old insulators. I have several of these and I see them at sales all the time. But, people usually think they are worth about $5.00 each. They really aren't worth much, but I think they look cool on the fenceposts in the backyard. These had the very lovely price of 10¢ each on them. 60¢ for six insulators - yes sirree Bob, that's my kind of price!

When we pulled up to a very fancy house I saw this old child's chair at the end of the driveway. I told the Bean it was just my thing, but I knew they would call it an "antique" and want a ton for it. Which, I said, was good because I didn't need to buy it. There wasn't a price on it, so I asked anyway. As you can see, I got a ridiculously low price and now it is at my house. Only $1.00. It's hanging on the fence. I have a highly decorated fence!

So, since the chair was cheap, I asked about the old rusty milkstool. $1.00. Score.

Well, what about the old freezer basket? 50¢. Score again. (Great for storage).

And that old wooden box with the copper lining? $1.00. Great for flowers.

It even has a drainage hole for the flowers. Handy, right? As I was leaving she said, "You do know what that is, don't you?" I do now. Do you? Answer tomorrow.

*Edited to add - Yes, it is a toilet. I think I'm nuts.

The Big Tent Sale

I made it to the Super Cheap Thrift this morning, just as the Tent Sale was starting. The ladies on Tuesday had told me that they had a big storage unit full of things they needed to get rid of, so they needed to have a tent sale to clear it out. But, what they actually did was take a bunch of stuff out of the thrift and put it in the tent sale. Now they have room inside the store for the stuff from the storage building. So, there wasn't much in the tent sale that I hadn't already seen in the thrift. I did manage to buy 56 items which would have been a total of $14.00, but they only charged me $8.00. So, even on Super Cheap 25¢ day, the Super Cheap Thrift was even cheaper! I got a big stack of books, some new paintbrushes and some other less than exciting (yet useful) purchases that I didn't photograph. The Bean found a 29 book set on Crime and Punishment (He has a love of all things Forensic) plus six other books. So, that counted for 35 of my 56 items. And, to think, he didn't even want to go today.

I got that set of orange clippers on the right today. I love my collection of rainbow colored clippers on my potting bench. I moved that red thing on the left to take a picture and there was a big from under there and it scared the bajeezus out of me.

Two weird vintage Halloween masks. When The Breadman came home, he found me and The Bean wearing them as we did dishes. Boo! I should have taken photos of them being modeled.

A roll of orange and black ribbon, six rolls of orange and black crepe paper streamers and a not that old, but not that new either, Jack-O-Lantern. It will be Halloween before we know it!

Two cute vintage Santas. It will be Christmas before we know it!

A planter that looks like a log with moss. It's newer, but I liked the look of it. I already planted my Christmas Cactus in it. I may attach a few spun cotton toadstools on it for fun.

Three old half bushel baskets. I remember actually going to the fruit stand to buy apples and bringing them home in one of these. I use these for everything from bringing things in from the garden, to holding projects, to my Christmas card to.......you name it.

A photograph of a cute little round faced girl that would fit in my family perfectly fine. I fear she took a tumble off that table seconds after the flash went off. She is thisclose to the edge!

A sweet vintage bone china Mother tea cup and saucer. I am not a tea cup or a flowery person, but I do have a small collection of Mother things that that I display at Mother's Day. At 25¢, it will be right at home with my other Mother treasures.

A vintage planter. Love that pink inside. I picked a bunch of Zinnias from my yard and made an arrangement in it. I even used one of my vintage flower frogs. I love actually using some of my finds.

Rainy Yucky Tuesday Finds

The finds weren't yucky, the weather was yucky. It was in the mid 60's this morning and absolutely pouring rain. And, we really need the rain. Bu, today was the big TENT SALE at the Super Cheap Thrift. I was torn. What should I do - should I go or stay home? I wasn't sure if TENT SALE was really a real tent sale or just a gimmick to clear out the store. If it was to be in a tent, they couldn't possibly be having it due to the rain. Or could they? Even if the sale was cancelled, the store was still open..... So, you guessed it - I went to see what was going on. The TENT SALE was postponed until Thursday because of the rain. I did find out that it is the contents of an entire storage unit that will be under a tent and everything will be 25¢ each. So, I get to do it all over again on Thursday. Except EARLIER! I found this old book in the FREE bin outside the door. It's not in the best condition on the outside, but the inside is pristine.
I adore old children's books and the bright clean illustrations. Poor Tommy wants to receive a phone call, but they are never for him....

This fabulous old coaster set was 25¢. I knew it was old and cheap, so I just threw them in my bag.
It wasn't until I got home that I realized that each one has a different view of NYC on it. Love the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. These will go in my Patriotic decoration box for next year.
A boxed set of matches for a Bridge or Canasta Party. Each box of matches looks like a deck of cards. I seem to be on a run of playing cards, Bridge items and other card themed items as of late. These were only 25¢ and I thought they were fun.
The Bean bought this nice hand painted watercolor for 25¢. He likes Asian themed items and seems to pick them up now and again. He loves dragons, so that is why things like this catch his eye. More often than not, there is a dragon in there somewhere.

I picked this creamer up about ten times before I decided to buy it. I try to steer clear of creamers and dishes. But,t his one was heavy and nice and had that cool vintage heft to t, so I caved. I persuaded myself that it would look good in my pottery collection. When I took the sticker off the bottom (25¢) I saw that it as a Russel Wright - no wonder I liked it

This footed tidbit is unusual. I love that old pattern, which escapes me at the minute.
It was only 50¢, which I thought was quite a deal. I haven't looked it up, but I'm sure it will end up on ebay.
Last item - this silly plate that reads, "I am the Master of this House. Whatever my Wife says shall be done." I have a collection of these plates. All bought at thrifts and yard sales for no more than 50¢ each.

Wanna see them?

Amen!

You said it, Toots!

Yes, Breadman, that's the way it works.

I don't have an apartment, but it fits the collection. I sold the "God Bless Our Crappy Trailer" plate and I still miss it!

And I am darn pleased to order some pizza!

Or Chinese. I'm not picky.

I hear ya, Sister.

Now this next one is a bit different than the rest. A bit raunchy...

I bought this one at the Estate Sale of one of our friends that everyone called Granny. She loved a raunchy joke. So, his is my memory of her.

Tomorrow we are off to see the Prince - we can't wait!