Down but not out...

Last week Eric was really sick! Tthis week, I have something that I just can't kick! It's not as bad as what he had, but I just can't stop the headache, and queasies. I've stayed home from work the past 2 days, and I feel exhausted! Yesterday I slept until 3 in the afternoon and slept through the night starting at 8pm. I have bags under my eyes and I'm wiped out! I've been cold one minute and hot the next--I sure hope you or your families get this!!!

I did get a bright spot of happiness delivered in the mail though...

I'm hoping to get back to work tomorrow...I know the work is piling up!!!

I finished it!!!

I finished my first rag rug!!! It's not very big, and it's not perfect, but I made it and I couldn't be happier!! I am so creatively challenged that I'm thrilled that this turned out!!! It was very easy too-so easy-even I could do it!!

It's the perfect size for in front of my stove!

Local Antique Store --Sale Alert!!!

If you live within reasonable driving distance to Whitmore Lake, Michigan you're going to want to mark your calendar for a BIG sale!!! I stopped and visited Mart's Treasures and they told me they are moving into Hamburg so they are having a BIG sale March 10 and 11. Anything left in the front of the building will be half off, and anything in the back room will be just $1.

I enjoy visiting this little shop, I'm sure you've seen my posts in the past about it-I can't wait to see them all set up in their new shop!! I'm glad I found them-I think it was on Craigslist-I've visited at least 4 or 5 times now and their inventory keeps getting better and better!! So, if you're nearby-stop in and check out their sale!!

A FUN Day and an update...

The winter sickness has hit our house! My youngest son has had the full gamut of every type of flu the past couple of days. He's feeling better today, but not 100% yet. Normally that wouldn't be something I'd even mention, but with my mom coming to town to stay with us so she can be with her sister in the hospital, it made things a little difficult!

Thankfully, a friend and co-worker who has a mother-in-law apartment attached to her house offered it to my mom to stay so she doesn't take any sick germs to my aunt or any of the other cancer patients at Karmanos. It is a beautiful little apartment! My mom is going to want to stay there every time she visits instead of coming here and taking over a stinky teenage boy's room! Too bad it is a 1/2 hour away!

She spent the day at the hospital today, I'm hoping she has some good news to tell me! The doctors said my aunt had a stroke earlier this week when she was bleeding from her brain so she will have to go through rehab now, on top of fighting for her life with this nasty melanoma! Thanks for your prayers, kind words and thoughts!!!

I spent the day with my sister-in-law. She lives about an hour away from me and today was her community's annual fundraiser  indoor garage sale. Last year she invited me for the first time, and we had a LOT of fun, so we both marked our calendar for this year and have been eagerly anticipating our adventure!!

We got there during the pre-sale time and admission was $5. I was hoping they would agree to a lower price since it was half-way through the pre-sale time, but they didn't, so Dawn took a seat and waited while I had a momentary brain lapse and paid the $5 to get in. What was I thinking!?!

The sale was HUGE again, but not as much really cool stuff as last year. I think I will do well with what I bought, but I was hoping for some big scores like last year. The prices seemed higher across the board than last year, and there was a TON of people shopping the pre-sale! I didn't do the pre-sale last year. I don't think I'll do it again.

They had two "holding" areas where you could stash your treasures and they would guard them until you were ready to check-out. I made a few trips to the holding area, and on one trip, I patiently waited for the woman in front of me to leave her stuff and the guy working the area to take it. When she walked away a woman walked up behind me and yelled, "Excuse me!" and when I turned around she said, "I just need to leave my stuff here." I told her that I was waiting to leave my stuff too. Then she said "well, I already have stuff in there and I just need to leave this real quick." I explained that I too had stuff in there, and that she would have to wait. Then she said " I just want to leave it real quick." I told her she would just have to wait until he took my stuff.

Geesh!!! The nerve of some people! I had stood there a few minutes waiting my turn and she was going to barge right in and step in front of me? I think NOT! I was ready for more, but she backed down. Must have been the "REALLY?" look I gave her-LOL! Or maybe it was the "Bring it sister" look-who knows-LOL!

It wasn't worth the extra $5, but it went to charity-so in that sense it was worth it. There were a LOT of older people there, who were shoving their way through the very narrow aisles-some with granny carts, some with walkers and some who would just plow through and stop dead in their tracks right in front of me.

After we waited FOREVER to check out, I drug my sister-in-law around to 5 estate sales, all within 19 miles of her house!! For the most part they were very, very over-priced and we didn't get much. We did find a few things each at a really stinky house though. I've been getting lucky at the stinkies the past couple of weeks, I hope it doesn't become a pattern though-I hope I can find some good junk treasures at non stinky, dirty houses!!!

We had lunch at a Thai restaurant (first time trying Thai food for me!), it was O.K.-not my favorite, but it could have just been what I ordered-I'm willing to try it again sometime. I dropped her off after our late lunch and then stopped at a couple stores on my way home.


Here is what I got today:

 Mini Pyrex casseroles.

 I wish there were more than just one of these!

 A very dirty amethyst Moroccan oval dish.

 A Michigan tin platter from S.A..

 LOVE it!!!

 

 I Love unusual bottles and jars!

 Primrose.

 I know these aren't old or even vintage, but I thought they were cute-especially the spoon that looks like a leg!

 With the spoon in the sugar dish.

 An unused orange fondue pot in the box!

 I grew up with these-reminds me of my brother!!

 A red enamel bowl and double boiler.

 Not old or vintage, but I LOVE these kind of card/picture holders.

 A stool for my mom. I've been looking for one for her, and found this one with storage for only $2!

 She's going to recover it to match the one she already has.

 A $3 chair-why do I keep buying chairs??? They aren't good sellers, and I have more in the basement...

 A little wooden doll high chair-needs some TLC-but worth $1.

 A vintage shelf.

 Oyster and Pearl candy dish.

 Not old, but great for some of my crazy old bottles.

 I've never seen a tin like this before.

 From 1945.

 For fifty cents, it will be great for hanging things on in the booth.

We lived in California for a couple of years when we first got married and Kevin was in the Navy stationed at the Naval Hospital in Hawaiian Gardens-we weren't far from Knott's Berry Farm.

Hope you are having a great weekend!!! I'll be popping over to see what you've been up to soon!!

What Did You Do Last Weekend??

Kevin and I went to a great marriage conference at our church called "The Art of Marriage". It was a video conference created by Family Life Ministries.

There was about 100 couples who were married between 14 months and 61 years! At first I was asking myself what I was doing there, and then little things kept popping up in what they were saying that spoke to me. We've gone to 2 of their marriage conferences before (with "live" presenters) and I think this was just as helpful.

If you see it coming to your area, even if you aren't struggling or having a tough go of things it is worth it! Kind of like a little tune up.

Prayer Request!!

My mom got word today that my aunt (her sister with the brain tumors-who just had another surgery a couple weeks ago to remove more brain tumors) was rushed to the hospital by ambulance! She started bleeding from where she had the surgery and couldn't stop throwing up. They determined that her brain is bleeding, and it is very swollen, so they have her very heavily sedated to try to allow her brain to stop swelling and heal.

My mom is coming down to stay with us Thursday through Sunday to be with her sister at the hospital. Please pray for my aunt Brenda and her family, this new development doesn't sound good at all!!

A Great Looking Sale...but

I only have a few quick minutes today between church and a meeting for parents of high school students interested in going on this year's summer mission trip. So I made a quick pass through some up-coming estate sales on estatesales.net.

There is a sale coming up in a couple of weeks that looks very interesting...except it is a sale where they will be filming HGTV's Cash and Cari. I don't want to be on TV, and I don't want someone shoving a camera in my face while I'm shopping, but the sale looks really fun...a real digger sale.

What would you do? Would you go? Would you skip it? I want to go, just for the treasure hunt of the sale, but I will probably skip it, because when I went to a Cash and Cari sale (by mistake) before, not only was there a cameraman getting up in everyone's business, their prices were pretty high. What a bummer! It looks like there will be lots of great things to dig through!!!

I'll have to keep looking--and hoping a big digger sale will pop up somewhere else!

Frigid Friday Finds...

It was 9 degrees when I headed out this morning!! The main sale that I was going to was almost an hour away. I had made up my mind months ago to never travel that far again for a sale, but when you need a vintage fix, and the pictures of the sale look amazing, and it is in an area you never even knew existed...sometimes you have to break your own rules!

I got to talk to my mom for almost the whole trip, so we got all caught up on what's been going on this week, and it made the ride go by really fast! The sale was on a quiet little street that was lined with cars when I pulled up. There was even a utility truck, that had a cone out in the road-just like they were working! I fell for it until I saw the guy making trips from the house to his work truck with boxes of stuff from the sale.

The house looked like it was about to fall down from the outside and was really rough on the inside. It was packed with stuff-dirty stuff. There was more glassware than I've seen at any other sale, maybe even the last 10 sales I've been to combined! It was a private sale (not run by an estate sale company). Those kind of sales are usually either way too high because they are selling "antiques", or really low because they don't know what they have. This sale was a little of both!

I didn't even make a dent! I wish it was closer, and I wish I wasn't tied up all day tomorrow-the last day! I think there probably be some great deals in the last hours.

It only got up to 16 degrees by the time I got home. I stopped at 3 more sales and 4 thrift stores, but nothing even came close to the first sale. It was bright and sunny for the first couple of hours, but then the clouds came in and now it is snowing.

 Any idea what this Pyrex pattern is? When it was made? I've never seen it before, and it was really cheap, so I picked it up.

Kevin is on his way home from work, we are going to a marriage conference at our church tonight at 7, for a couple of hours and then all day tomorrow-right up until volleyball time! Sunday I have to go to a meeting with Eric to find out what our Youth Group is doing for their summer mission trips-busy weekend!

Hope you are having a great start to your weekend! I can't wait to see what you've been finding!!