If I were a hoarder...

If I were a hoarder...I would most definitely hoard vintage tablecloths...oh....wait...I kind of do already! I just can't help it! They speak to me when I see them, and we become friends...and you can never leave a friend behind-right!?!

Here is the new friend from Ebay that cost me a trip to the post office and an additional 48 cents because it was shipped with too little postage. I sent the seller a message-just an FYI message. Not expecting anything-just trying to be helpful.

Couldn't resist sharing a little Michigan sunshine with you too!

Update:
Before I could even hit publish on this post, I had an answer from the seller! Less than 5 minutes from when I  sent the email! She apologized and is going to refund part of my shipping! I'll add her to my saved seller list and hope to buy from her again!!!

The Week After...

Well, it's been a full week now since we found out the township doesn't want our property. What an emotional roller coaster the past 2 months have been! Just when we had finally convinced ourselves that this was for real, and we were going to make the best of it, we find out-- surprise! It's not going to happen! I kind of feel like we were riding the roller coaster, and we climbed the big hill, and were almost to the top-ready to throw our hands up and yell weeee as we go over the hill and down and around to the end of the ride. Except, they stopped the ride at the top and made us walk down. That's what it feels like.

Ok, so now what do we do? We know that it is only a matter of time until this comes up again, since they are buying all the property around us still-just not developing it at this time. I am hoping for a good 4-5 years before we have to face this again. By then, both boys will be finished with college, and our mortgage will be paid off and then hopefully, we can move on our terms-if we want to.

My boss was on vacation this week so things at work were really quiet and slow. One of my co-workers is leaving and this was his last week. Another co-worker and I ended up going to lunch with him on Monday and Tuesday, just to hang out with him before he moves on.

On Monday, we went to a place that has been in business since 1981. I've heard they have the best burgers anywhere, and they even have yak and ostrich burgers. I have always wanted to try it out, but since it's a bar, I've stayed away-not wanting to get all smokey smelling, and since the ban on smoking, I just haven't thought about it. It was his choice and he raved about the burgers so much that we went.

It felt weird to be on a lunch break from my job at a church, sitting in a bar. Not a bar and grill, a bar that makes food. We had water to drink, and we ordered a yak burger, a beef burger and I got a turkey burger. All three were way over cooked and dry. I wasn't impressed. With so many options out there, I can't see myself making another trip. Had the food been better, I sure would have made an effort to bring the guys and go back.

The next day they took me with them to lunch and they went to a sushi place. A place I had heard from friends who LOVE sushi that it was really good, but really expensive. I don't care for sushi, so I never planned to try the place.

It turns out they make cooked food too! We all got Bento Bowls, which ended up being a square wooden box that was about 12"x12" with dividers inside and I got teryaki chicken. So in my sections, I had teryaki chicken and sauteed vegetables, white rice, tempura vegetables, and dumplings. It was pretty good-a little bland-I would have liked some spice, but I'll try something else next time that might be more what I was looking for.

I even managed to eat the whole meal with chopsticks-even though I had them bring me a fork...just in case! It was only $9 for all that food too, so not too bad! I got extra dumplings instead of spring rolls, and couldn't even eat them all!

On Wednesday, I decided to stop at a TV repair place that has had my TV, for the second time, since February 25. They were going to try to figure out why it was still doing the same thing that I brought it in for at the beginning of February and call me. I had called them 3 times and left 3 messages and they never called me back.

When I stopped, I told the guy I had not heard from them and I had called 3 times and left messages and no one called me back. Rather than apologize, he told me that it was so-and-so's job to do that and she was at the hospital with her mother who had a stroke 2 weeks ago and was probably going to die and she very well could be bleeding out at that very moment! He just works in the back room...he should have stayed in the back room! I'm sure she doesn't want everyone knowing her business...and whatever happened to "sorry, ma'am ..we've been short handed due to a family emergency-we'll take care of it for you."

I stopped at the local salvation Army next-no fun stuff to be found. I swear, their prices seem to go up and up, and are almost at ridiculous. I'm glad garage sale season is just around the corner!!! After I turned on our road, and while I was driving past the parking lot to the park next door, I noticed that the "make-out couple" was back.

This is a couple whom I am sure are having an affair...that has been going on for over a year, maybe longer. Why am I sure it's an affair? Because they are probably in their 40's, they park in the back of a parking lot closest to a dead-end dirt road, kind of tucked away, so no one from the township offices can see their car, and the windows are all steamed up and you see two people on the passenger seat-one who's backside is up in the air---as you drive by.

I guess I was in a mood on Wednesday...because I drove past, turned around, and drove in to the township offices. I spoke with one of the head people there, and told her that we have a problem in their parking lot...I went on to explain about "make-out couple", and told her they have been doing this now for well over a year, 1-2 sometimes more times a week,  in a public place-where families frequent. Where we have to see it every time they are there and we have to drive by it... and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they are doing. I even told them how they started in a pick up truck, moved to a champagne colored car and are now in an older dark blue car.

I asked her what they wanted me to do about it...did they want me to call the police, did they want to take care of it, or should I go over there and bang on their window and tell them to get a room? As I was talking, I noticed heads popping around cubical walls, and a lot of smiling faces and even heard a few bursts of laughter. I was assured that they would take care of it. So I thanked them and went home.

I thought about going back with a camera and taking a picture of the license plate, and then maybe the butt up in the air and posting them to facebook...asking if anyone recognized the car or the butt. I may still do that  if they show up again-LOL!

I had an early game that night, so I ran home, changed my clothes and went to play some vball! We won 3 out of 5 games, and I got home and it was still light out! I was loving that!!!

Just work and usual household stuff on Thursday and groceries and vet stuff-nothing fun. Today, I went to 3 sales. The first one in the town I grew up in. It was in a tiny little house and there were probably 50 people in line. I expected them to say only 10 in at a time...they let EVERYONE in! The prices were as high, if not higher than antique/collectible store prices.

I didn't see a whole lot of buying going on. I got a couple of yard sticks, some crocheted hot pads (for fifty cents each) and a Mexican themed vintage tablecloth. I bumped into a junkin friend, Jennifer, who also has a booth where I have my booth.

The next sale on my list was just a couple of miles from the first sale, so I went right there. I pulled in and was #6. It still had about a half an hour until it opened. I saw Jennifer walking up to get her name on the list and she jumped in and sat and chatted with me while we waited.

It was more of a moving sale than an estate sale. They had stuff throughout the whole house for sale, but not my kind of stuff, so I moved on quickly. I had one more sale to hit and it was very close to home. I called Kevin and asked him to go get numbers or get in line and I'd be there soon.

When I got there, I realized the sale started an hour earlier than the ad said. Kevin was already inside, and had quite a stash of stuff. He was pickin for me! ...and for himself too! I should have skipped the other two sales and just hit this one! It was a family run sale and the prices were very reasonable. There was a lot to see, and people were buying.

I checked out and went back in again and found things I missed the first time around and checked out again! I may go back tomorrow just to see what's left and if they are giving any discounts.

After that, we dropped everything off at home and went to the post office, I got a notice that I had a package with postage due. It was for something I got on Ebay...I've never had an Ebay item come postage due---have you? I'm going to let the seller know and see what she has to say...probably nothing...but we'll see. Would you tell the seller? Or just pay it?

We stopped at the library and ended up staying there for 2 hours! They were having a blood drive and we donated. We try to turn it into a race-to see who can drain their blood the fastest. The technicians most of the time get a kick out of our joking and join in. Today was fun because they joined in and had fun with us. I even got them to tell Kevin that I couldn't do any heavy lifting--aka pots and pans for 5 hours, so he had to take me out to dinner tonight! Too bad it's pizza night, otherwise I might have been able to work that out!!

Now, we are home for the night. Me in the sun room, and him in the barn. Home sweet home. I'm glad we're not moving, even though I was resigned to it, and maybe even looking forward a little bit to the adventure.

How was your week? Have you hit any sales yet? Planning to hit any sales? What kinds of things have you been finding? It's been a really slow month for me at the booth...I've made my rent, but nothing else as of yesterday...there is a big sale coming up, and I know people are waiting for that, so I'm hoping the sale will at least get me a check for the month. This is my slowest month in the 2 years that I've had my booth.

Here are my finds for this week...I promise not one license plate or butt picture in the bunch!

 This is my pickings from the first sale, 9 crocheted hot pads, 2 yardsticks and a very bright Mexican themed vintage tablecloth.

 This was at the third sale...I saw it in the garage, with a $5 sticker and a big SOLD sign. I didn't look closely at it, since it said sold...later I found out Kevin had put the sold sign on it and it was ours...once we were loading it in the car, I thought, maybe I should have left it there...it's pretty rusty on the bottom...would you have bought it??

 A very dirty, but cute old planter.

 I love salt and pepper shakers. I don't collect them, because my grandma used to collect them when I was a kid, and it was my job to dust them for her!!! She had hundreds of them too-I will never collect s & p shakers for that very reason!!

 Kevin nabbed this California pottery covered casserole-pretty close to vintage Fiesta red!

 A covered butter dish for a friend who collects them...

 Cookbooks, and a music book...

 Waxing nostalgic...I had on of these about 5 times bigger when I was a kid, and it was a quarter.

 Not old, but glass,and glitter...

 Fifty cents each, pretty much brand new...good to have on hand if we meet someone who needs one!

 Piggy jar! I've never seen one before and I am in love!

Some tins, and since we are staying, a book on how to get some more birds to visit us!

 Shoe shine box, filled with all the stuff to do a good job!

 Love this little guy!

 What can I say, I have a thing for glass!

...and a thing for galvanized!

Kevin got a few things, and I also got a little doll cradle from the 70's that is missing the bottom (for fifty cents) that will take Kevin about 30 seconds to make one for me. It was fun picking through it all!

Here are some shots of the food places we went this week...

 Interesting ceiling for a bar!

 It was so dark inside, it hurt your eyes to look toward the windows! I'm surprised that any of these turned out...since the food wasn't all that great, no photo to share.

 Cell phone room...tiny sound proof room so you could call your spouse and tell them you were working late, and they wouldn't find out because they wouldn't hear the bar noise!


Second place...

Soup and salad to start...

...and then I forgot to take a picture of the main dish-doh! I was so nervous about using the chop sticks and not looking like a dummy, I forgot to take one!!!

Hope you have a great weekend-filled with lots of laughter and good times!!!

No packing for us!!!

Yesterday, I was talking with an appraiser who was scheduled to come at the end of March and appraise our house. I asked her to change our appointment to the middle of April to give more houses time to sell in our area, so we'd have more comparables-which would hopefully help the value of our house.

During our conversation, she asked what our 2013 tax assessment was. When I told her I hadn't gotten one yet, she told me to get it right away, that everyone had already gotten theirs, and I really should have it. So I decided to stop at the township office on my way home from work. Before I left, one of my co-workers stopped me in the hallway and prayed with me because I told her where I was going and that I was going to ask about what was going on with our property.

It was 8 weeks yesterday since they first told us they wanted to develop the land all around us, and we had been very patiently waiting for word from them as to what they were going to offer us. We were busy doing our homework and getting things set up because they were very certain that the plans they had were going to go through, with or without us.

What a difference a couple months can make! Yesterday, I was informed that the deal "fizzled out", and they no longer were interested in our property. It seems they were taking the word of a developer and a couple of "very highly respected" local business men to be true, but when it came time for the developer to present his plans and his backing...he had nothing to show.

The whole time the township guy was talking to me, I was trying to remain calm, and not get up in his face and ask why they pushed it so far with us if it wasn't a done deal...oh, and when were they going to tell us that it fizzled out? I was also trying really hard not to smile and look happy about the whole thing, but I could feel the tight bands that have been around my chest for the past 2 months slowly slipping away the more he talked!

They are still buying up the property around us, behind us and across the street from us, but they have had time to think about what the developer was proposing and have decided to go in a "different direction"-for right now. They feel that the "country club atmosphere" the developer was trying to create just wouldn't be a good fit in this spot. They still feel the need for that type of facility, just not on our road...a little further away near an existing golf course/country club type community.

Right now, the plans are to complete the purchase of the 90 acres around us, and put in a baseball field complex at the end of our road, with stadium lights for night time games. It will increase the traffic on our road and will probably force them to change the way our road flows out onto the main road. I don't mind the baseball fields because they are only used for a season, and not year round. Plus, they will be far enough away that even the lights shouldn't affect us.

So, we get to stay (for now), which makes us very relieved and very happy. There has been nothing said that this won't come up again. I fully expect it will at some point, and we will deal with it when it comes up again, hopefully it will be in 4-5 years (or more), when the boys have completed college and are out on their own, and our mortgage is paid off, and then we can move on our terms-meaning when, how, where, etc.

I couldn't have made it through the past couple of months without knowing that God was always going before us, and behind us. He sent just the right people at just the right time to tell us what we needed to hear. Those words came in the form of emails, blog comments, facebook comments, phone calls, texts, someone stopping me in a store or in the hallway at work or church...it was amazing to watch His hand in all of this. I kept a mini journal because I didn't want to forget His goodness to us when this was all said and done.

Throughout all of the anxiety, stress, and uncertainty, one thing remained-God will never leave us, or forsake us! That brought us so much peace! There was always this overwhelming sense of needing to be still, and trust God to direct our path and we had reached the point where we were ready and willing to go wherever He sent us...and He ended up keeping us right here!

Thank you all for sticking with me during this time! Thank you for your prayers, comments, concern, care and love! Each one has touched my heart in a big way and I am forever grateful!

Now we are feeling like we've been riding a roller coaster and we got to the top of the big hill, all ready to let loose and fly down the hill, and the ride got stopped at the top of the hill and we had to walk down! It's a funny feeling. It's almost like, "what do we do now?".

I'm ready to gut the bathrooms and get going on them! So maybe in the next little bit you'll see what we are up to! We've got some big over-grown bushes in the front that need to come out, but mostly, we are just going to take time to enjoy our home and our yard-for however long we have it!!

Learning about glass insulators...

What is a glass insulator? It is an item that is a non-conductor, meaning it can withstand the flow of electrical current, and help protect against sparks or shocks. They initially started out made from glass in the 1800's because glass can withstand the highest volts of electrical current. Some other materials that were used include, porcelain, mica and ceramic.

As the telegraph became more and more popular, and spread across the country, the need for insulators increased and several companies who were already producing glass items and sandwich glass, started making insulators.

Insulators can be found in many colors, although they weren't intentionally made in different colors. They were made with the same materials, but trace minerals altered the color during production. The most common colors are clear and aqua/blue-in various shades.

One insulator manufacturers was Hemingray who received a patent in December of 1871 and continued production until 1966. In 1931, Western Electric Company requested Hemingray to produce the insulators in clear. They ended up being a lite or ice blue color.

In 1937, Hemingray celebrated the production of their one billionth insulator. In 1952 the Kimble Glass Company took over the Hemingray insulator division.

This is just a quick little introduction to insulators. If you are interested in finding out more details, just search around the internet-you will find answers to your every question.

Today, there are untold numbers of insulator collector clubs, and all kinds of information available on the internet for anyone seeking to know more. There are also people who up-cycle the insulators into all sorts of decorative items for the home.

I found a site where they make hanging pendant lights out of the insulators and small table lamps out of the larger insulators. If we were going to be staying, I would be scouring the web for instructions on how to drill my own insulators to make pendant lights for our sunroom-I really love that look!

There really isn't anything special about the ones I've collected, they are average in size, design and color. I just happened to find them very cheaply and they are glass...and you know how that catches my eye! Maybe my next house will have a place that we can use them as pendant lights.

Speaking of the house...no news as of yet, it's a little over 7 weeks in their promised 6-8 week promised time frame, so hopefully any day now...the waiting has been hard! Some days we are convinced that it was all just a bad dream...and others, we struggle with being depressed about having to move! Thanks everyone for the kind emails and for keeping us in your prayers-it is all very much appreciated!!

Vintage Cards...

Remember my post last weekend about the scrapbooks I picked up at a local sale? Here are some of the cards that were in the scrapbooks...1940's-1980's