Independence Day 2008

My blog is one year old today!! I've been a very bad blogger...hit or miss, at best...but in the process, have discovered many fascinating people who are much better at this blog thing than I am. Collectors & junkers...Gardeners & Moms...Suvivors & Creators of all manner of interesting stuff. This world we live in is so full of amazing folk...I know without this crazy thing we call Blogging, we would never really have the same opportunity to meet! Sooo...Happy 1st Birthday to my "Love2junk"...Happy 232nd Birthday to this wonderful country that we call home...& to all you bloggers who make my day a little more interesting...keep on posting! Happy Independence Day!!!

Letter Obsession?

For the past 5 years or so, I have had what appears to be an obsession with letters. It started innocently enough, with the purchase of a broken down Scrabble game bought for .50 at a yard sale. The box & board went in the trash, & I was left with a large pile of letter tiles...what to do with them?? Well...I also happen to have a collection of old food jars, so hauled out a cool coffee jar...& in they went. Looked great on my shelf, so now when I went yard sale-ing I had something new to look for...more Scrabble tiles to file the jar, of course. I love to read, I do a lot of scrapbooking, plus I work at a T-shirt shop where we personalize tee's. So I guess the obsession has honest roots...now I just have to keep coming up with new creative ways to use all my letters...PS...also along the way started to collect other game pieces...especially old dice. Love, love the old red and green Bakelite ones, although they are getting harder to find. So enjoy the pics of my letter stuff, and I'll be back next weekend...can't believe I did 2 posts in 1 weekend! I'm getting better...either that or I just had too much time on my hands this weekend...couldn't seem to get motivated to accomplish any great tasks! :D have a great week *elaine*

Wild Flowers can be breathtaking.

Been away...haven't seen me in awhile...too much to do & never enough time! Had to share these pictures! Came over the top of a small hill last Monday, and hit the brakes at the sight of this sea of gold. For once, had my camera, so pulled off & started to carefully make my way through the edges of these amazing meadows. I don't know what kind of flowers the golden ones are, but the fields are intermingled with wild phlox in an amazing array of pinks & white with a little magenta thrown in for good measure. Ahh...Florida in the spring...still holds some surprises! Actually, these are not meadows, but a very small citrus grove with very wide spaces between the orange trees...have a great weekend! *elaine*

Spring has Sprung!!!

Last day of February in Central Florida, and after 2 nights of unexpected frost, spring is definitely upon us. Lowe's garden center is bursting with flowers of every description, the azaleas are in bloom everywhere, and people are out in their yards with that look on their faces...you know the look...what should I plant over here...and look at the flowers on that plant...and what outside project can I do today...that look. I cannot seem to walk outside without feeling the urge to grab a rake, or a trowel or the pruning shears! Started a project on Sunday that's a work in progress. Had a "path to nowhere " through my front garden area that was looking pretty rough...reclaimed some great flagstone pavers a few months ago, and decided to redo the path with the pavers, brick and pink granite chips, with landscape cloth under all to slow down the constant weeding. Easier said than done, and after 2 full days of prying up the old stuff, I only have half of it done. It's gonna look great when it's finished, but that darn real job of mine keeps getting in the way!! Hope spring is heading your way soon...enough of that ol' ice & snow!!

2 teeny sales...getting stuff ready for resale!

Planned on NOT going to any sales this weekend, but 2 just jumped out on front of me on my way to work! Found some rickrack at one, along with the very funky lime daisy...1.25...and the 2 little peeps chickens @ the other for a whopping .50...had to bring them home for the spring re-do of our re-sale space. Had a slow start for February after a terrible January...just made the rent on that one! Checked the shop on Friday, and we had been cleaned out! WooHoo!!! So...I've been accumulating spring stuff all month, and spent a good part of the day cleaning & pricing, so we can get things in place for this week. Busy tourist week here, w/ the Daytona 500, so hopefully we'll be busy all week. Also put together another little vintage sewing stuff frame, so I'm going to put that in and see how folks like it. Have 6 more pairs of vintage "crane scissors" and once they're gone I'll have to come up w/ something else. Don't want to dip into my private stash of sewing goodies...has to be new found materials. Am also finishing a cute wood sign...done on old cedar paneling. I made 1 as a secret santa gift, and the lady in Ohio who received it was thrilled, so painted another on a smaller scale. Don't have much of the cedar left, so had to cut down on the size. So, that ends my 2 day weekend...probably won't have another for a couple of weeks...damn!!! Seems like there are not enough hours in the day to do all the things that are rolling around my brain! Need to retire soon, while I have the energy to do all this stuff! Lotto rolled over to 34 mil...now that would be a nice retirement fund, huh? have a great week, folks...*elaine*

Cheeep Sales and more Goodies!

Another good weekend for sales...went to 2 on Friday, not advertised but lots of cool stuff. Guy had a garage full of goodies, all marked $1, .50, .25...my kind of prices! Got all the stuff in 1st picture for 3.25...second sale was an ongoing moving sale...found the cool wood vintage frame, with a tag that says "Loves Defiance"..$1.50, & a wood needle case & pack of old needles for .25 each. I collect old sewing stuff, so was happy with those finds. Saturday, hit a benefit rummage sale, & found all the stuff in second picture for $2.00! Some things are destined for the re-sale space, others I'll have to keep! I'm distressing the small frames, & doing little assemblages with old scissors, trim, fabric & buttons etc. I'm thinking of putting these for sale on Etsy...have signed up for that, but have never tried selling anything. It's a new year...it's time to try some new things!! Hit the local GW this AM...for $5 got a vintage Yahtzee game, w/ Bakelite dice, a memory board that needs re-doing, and a cute wood snowman for next Christmas...can't seem to stay away from these places! Is this an obsession, or a harmless past time???! Happy Monday, folks. See you again soon! Oh...the last pic is my cabinet of old sewing stuff...this was taken before I started re-doing that room, but the inside of the cabinet remains the same...I got tired of dusting all the stuff, and found this old kitchen cabinet for $10...perfect storage & display! Love the chippy old paint, too...e

Cool stuff...One sale...

Only got to one church rummage sale on Saturday...been going to this one for years, & word must have gotten out re: all the good stuff, cause the place was packed!! Could not even get into the parking lot..had to park on the street..worth the hassle, tho...found this awesome Skyway train case, $5, before I even went inside. Have had a fondness for old luggage for years, and this one just kind of jumped into my arms as I walked by! Got inside and decided this would be my only stop before heading off to the real job...tons of stuff on tables, but even better, tons of unpacked stuff in boxes under the tables!! I love to rummage in boxes! Takes time, but is usually worth it. Found all the goodies & pieces of goodies in various boxes...Dept. 56 ornies that I would never buy new, but @ .10 each, I'll have no problem pulling them apart & reusing the neat pieces. OH, almost forgot...in the train case I found a teeny, tiny perfume bottle (empty) & a teeny, tiny tube of Carter's Little Pills (not empty). The labels are so funny...perfume was TIANNE..eau du parfum..by Nettie Rosenstein...WHO??!! The pill bottle is TOO much..."relieves the following symptoms when due only to...constipation. Sluggishness..Bloated feeling...Headache...and Nervousness" HUH??!! So, if you had a headache, or heaven forbid..nervousness...you could only take "1-3 pills" if your symptom came from constipation?? ROFLMAO!! Happy Sunday, folks..sorry for the fuzzy pics..it's early & I guess I needed 1 more cup of coffee before I started w/ the camera!

Ground Hog Day disaster...1 year later

Today is the first of February...where did January go?...and tomorrow will be a blue day here in our little community. It will be the one year anniversary of the tornado that swept through here, destroying all in it's path, killing 13 people and shattering lives. After one year, we still have people living in FEMA trailers. Some have built small site built homes, others are in larger double-wides, and others have put their land up for sale, vowing to never return. Saturday night, at 6pm, we will have a memorial service for those who died that day, and we will all relive the fear and pain that came from the sky with no warning...and we will cry and comfort those who lost sons & daughters, mothers & fathers, and we will move on once again, because that's what we do. I will place 13 roses at the site of this small memorial, one for each life lost, and pray that we will never wake up to the devastation that we witnessed one year ago. I'll hug and laugh with Nellie and Ed, the elderly couple who lost their home that sad day... Nellie stood in the front yard where their house used to be, in her bathrobe, with cuts and scratches on her face...and said to the reporters.."t'aint nuthin but stuff...me and Ed and my sister are all okay...can we help any one else?" What a lady!! Don't know if I could have been that calm, or accepting...and I hope I will never have to find out. Our home was 1 block away from the tornado zone, and we were never touched. So, while I pray for those lost neighbors, I will also say another prayer of thanks for our blessings that day. Thank you, Lord, and give us the strength to help our neighbors once again tomorrow. We still need your blessings.

My New Year work-in-progress

So...Christmas projects had totally trashed my sewing/scrappin'/crafting/techno room...the east wing, as my DH affectionately refers to it...it's on the east end of our grand 1972 single wide mobile home!! Decided for the new year of creating that I needed to reorganize...well, of course, reorganizing turns into redecorating, and cleaning and painting..etc..etc..and January's almost gone and I have yet to craft, create or scrap a single thing!! My huband wants to know if I'm ever coming out of my room...I say "yes, but watch out, cause then I'll probably start working on the kitchen", and that will affect him directly...man's heart, stomach thing you know what I mean :o} " I have one thing left to paint ( w/ my $2 mistint green) and that's my work table...may only do the front for now..but that will probably bug the crap out of me, knowing the back's not done :o}...so guess I'll need to do the whole thing...wonder how many mammoth dust bunnies I'll unearth when I move that??!!! So, it's Monday, and I have to work, can't paint today...so I'm off to the local GW...like I really need to add anything else..have a great Monday folks..see ya !!

A week of FINDS!!!

This whole week has been a week of really awesome vintage finds! Starting Monday @ my GW...bought 2 semi-old Chinese Checker games, cause I like the graphics & I collect marbles...went to put the marbles in zip bags in my truck, cause the rolling sound while driving was driving me nuts, & found that most of the plain ol' marbles had been replaced w/ really cool marbles. Then went to 2 sales on Thursday, and 2 on Friday and found all of these vintage finds for cheep..cheep..cheep!! Pyrex sugar & creamer, cute little Homer Laughlin sugar bowl, gravy boat & 5 of the old books all @ one. Took the stuff up to the elderly lady having the sale and she says "1.00...for everything" & proceeds to wrap it all up! I gave her $2.00. to cover all the wrap she used! The other books came from 1 Thurs sale, for .25 each...and the really neat wood wine crate came from the curb!! Also in the same pile, found a wood framed humongous mirror w/ plate glass that must weigh 50 lbs!, and 1 framed oil or acrylic that will come out of it's "fugly" frame & go to my resale space. Will take & post pics of those as soon as I can get them out of my truck! All in all, a very good week, with very little $ spent. Planned on NO sales today, but there's 1 @ the local firehouse...gotta support the locals, right??!!?? Later! ...One more DGD pic to sneak in...we had bfast tog Fri AM, & this kid is just so darn sweet in the morning...Mommy & Daddy are night owls, but this one is a morning person all the way...kid after my own heart!! Oh, wait, she's already got that!!!!

My heart has been broken...

On January 7th, we had to make the decision to put to sleep our sweet lovin' yellow Lab, Buck. He had been ill for over a year and we kept hoping for the miracle that never came. Every morning when I would feed him, I would tell him it was okay to let go...but he just kept hanging on, and that Sunday before the 7th, he could barely stand...and my husband found a sweet lovin' vet that agreed to come to our home and help us say goodbye...and now my keyboard's getting all wet, and I thought I'd waited long enough to write about this w/o tears. Guess I was wrong , folks. The Doc my husband found was one of the most compassionate women I've ever met...she has no office, all her work is done mobile...& she spent a huge amount of time with us & Buck...never made me feel like she was in a rush to get on w/ the next thing on her list...very unusual in this day of "rush..get it done...rush..rush...move on". If my heart ever stops breaking, she will be my new Doc for whatever "fur-face" finds his/her way into our home and our hearts...not now, & maybe not for a long, long time...but I feel that there will be another unloved & unwanted who will somehow find us, just like my sweet Buck did 13 years ago...and he or she will probably break my heart again...and damn, I feel like the Tin Man...I know I have a heart, cause it just keeps getting broken...I miss you "Buck-L-Butts"..(why do my pets always end up with odd add-ons to their names??)...and I'll miss you always. Hope you made it to the Rainbow Bridge...I'll see you in 30 or 40 years, God willin'....