Grandpa called me his “gal”. I was his most well behaved grandchild and it didn’t hurt that I was the only one who lived in the same town. We’d sit on the front porch swing and he’d peel and cut apple slices for me. With his dirty pocket knife. Oh, he’d wipe it off on his pants first and the germs, of course, never made us sick. That’s one of my favorite memories or our time together. The other was the words  I’ve got some new baby birds! You see, he raised parakeets.

My first recollection of him and the birds was when I was 5 or 6 years old. He had an unpainted wood shed where he kept the birds. When there were babies, he’d lift me up to see in the nest. Those ugly beautiful little birds always had their mouths open and they were all mouth. Scrawny, featherless mouths. But I so loved seeing them and that was one of our special times together. So when I found this little birdcage at an antique mall the other day, all those memories came flooding back. Not that they’re ever that far from the surface anyway.

It came just like that with the bird in the nest and the bottle. $10.00. I’d gone in just to breeze through, but had to spend that $10.00. I believe it was a cage people took their bird home in when they bought it or perhaps they bought the cage later if they wanted their bird to travel with them. Or who knows? Maybe it’s for baby chickens. I really have no idea. But I also wonder if Grandpa had some? I don’t know what era this is from. Maybe it’s older than he would have used. I simply can’t remember how he got his birds to their new owners.

It’s funny how different things can trigger memories. This particular memory can also be triggered by the smell of hay and birdseed. I’ll never forget being at the library once when a man came in who had that smell to him. It made me want to cry. I wanted to be near him. Wanted him to be my grandpa. Imagine my shock when he left and the library workers turned up their nose and talked about how he smelled like a wild animal. Huh? Is that what people thought my grandpa smelled like? That made me so sad.

One final thing about Grandpa. He got Alzheimer’s. In 1976 they called it hardening of the arteries. It was heartbreaking to watch this man who once said he’d “work til the day he died” slowly slipping away from us. I’d bet most of you reading this have been affected by this disease in one way or another, too. Shortly before he died he was in the hospital. I stopped by to visit and Grandma, in the way people will do said, “Do you know who that is?” His eyes had a moment of clarity and he said, “That’s my gal!” and he left us again.

There’s an estate sale company near where my daughter Erin lives that has “invitation only” sales on Sunday afternoons then have the same sale open to the public the following weekend. It’s such a privilege to be on the invitation only list — with all 9000 of her other closest friends. It’s so funny how there’s always at least 100 people there on Sunday afternoons then the Friday it’s open to the public there’s maybe 20.

This sale, a couple of weekends ago, sounded like a good one. They had told Erin at the previous sale that she needed to be at this one. That there were lots of vintage clothes. Well, you know that had us foaming at the mouth. A good many other people, too.

It’s an hour drive for me, so I’d called Erin and told her — I TOLD HER! — to get there early to line up for a number. She didn’t. We were numbers 79 and 80. But, no matter. We know when everybody gets in, it’s dog eat dog anyway.

About 10-15 minutes before they opened the doors, I got something in my eye. Under my contact. My hard contact. It was excruciating and wasn’t going anywhere. Tears pouring down that side of my face. The pain making me crazy. If you wear or have worn hard contacts you know exactly what I’m talking about. So I slipped off to the side, took it out and washed it off in my mouth. And don’t you go being all shocked at that. Don’t you be actin’ like you’ve never done that. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And I was desperate. But when I tried to put it back in, it dropped on the ground. Did you see that coming? I bet you did.

I’m on my hands and knees with my big ol’ but in the air hunting, hunting. Erin came over and helped. The occasional passer by helped. It seemed to have disappeared. Gone. Vamooshed. We hunted for 10 minutes before I sent Erin into the sale. Told her to go on without me. Get those bargains! I looked another 5 minutes before giving in to the I’ve-got-to-get-into-that-sale feeling. I blame what happened next on my wonky, one-eyed vision.

Erin had run up directly to the vintage clothes, but all the other vintage clothes ladies had beat her and cleaned everything out like a pack of wolves. I roamed around downstairs, picking up a few things here and there. Met up with her and we went back upstairs. Then back down where I spotted this::

Something told me I needed to get it. That gut feeling. But it was more than I wanted to pay and besides, I couldn’t see it very well. Erin looked at the bottom and saw that it was Taxco, so I looked it up on my phone. Didn’t see an example like it on eBay and the Taxco candlesticks I did see were dead in the water. I passed.

We paid for our stuff and left, but made one last search for the naughty contact. And would you believe she found it? Stepped on. Crushed. I had to drive home with one eye sharp, one a fuzzy wuzzy. Not fun. And the candlestick was on my mind the whole way. By the time I got home, it was a pair of candlesticks and perfect. LOL I did some better research on the computer and found that they are made by Hector Aguilar. It means nothing to me, but it does to a lot of other people. These things are valuable! Why didn’t I trust my instinct? Friday couldn’t come quick enough.

I was there when they opened the doors and headed straight for the candlestick. Dang it. It wasn’t a pair and it wasn’t perfect, but it was still there. I grabbed it and a couple of other little things, paid and spent the rest of the day at thrift stores. Now I’ve got to figure out what price to put on the candlestick. Looks like I could price it anywhere between $50 and $450. But what would someone actually pay……

It used to be a fan. See the notch out of the bottom? The wooden fan handle was stapled there. I thought they might enjoy living next door to these young girls I already have.

I just don’t know how to frame the oddly shaped fan so that it will coordinate with the picture I already have. And, the colors are so very different. Hmmmm…. Any suggestions?

A little history on the picture that is already on the wall. The print was a very large, and very damaged, square. Much larger than what is shown. So much of it had to be cut away. It cost a whopping dollar. Or maybe not even that. It’s been a long time now. The frame, however? $75.00!!!! I took it to the local photography studio. My cousin, even. And that’s how much it cost. I’m thinking I can do better with the newest one now that Hobby Lobby and Michael’s are not so very far away.

The first sale of the year was pretty darn impressive. Or maybe I was starving? Ricky and I went Friday, the first day and Saturday for half price. I managed to get some pictures before the things were scattered here and yon. These are only a few, though. Some of the pictures were horrible and need to be retaken. Also, I didn’t take picture of the bigger items, yet or the things Ricky loaded up. (I’m so excited that he’s starting to get interested in buying and selling junk, even if he isn’t obsessed like I am.)

All of this, with the exception of the baskets – I thought they were too fragile to ship – will be on Etsy. Actually, these pictures are Etsy ready, only these are cropped more.  I’m trying them out here. Do you think the Cheerios are too much in the little frying pan? Is that pushing things too far? I’m trying to get more artistic with my pictures. Etsy pics are so different from eBay pics. eBay is straight out, show the item as close as you possibly can in the thumbnail. No frills. Etsy is artistic. Backgrounds and props, maybe. Lots of white space, maybe. I edited these while I was tired and had the laptop in my lap. Now I’m not so sure about the coloring.

So. What’s been going on with me these last few weeks? I’ve been trying my best to start the new year off right. Trying to develop new good habits that will naturally replace the old, bad ones. I’ve been trying to keep the house clean, dishes washed, clothes washed, bathrooms clean, etc. I’m trying the pick up every day, but do one chore a day. Floors one day, dusting one day and bathrooms another. It’s just the two of us. You’d think it would be easy, wouldn’t you? So far so good. I started some of this in November, but worked hard to get the house to a maintainable level. I’ve made it into the first week of the year and I’m right proud of myself. Now, if I can just get on that *%&^$^* treadmill.

We also moved Ricky’s shop into my old store. It’s still a crammed up mess. We’ll be tackling that probably this week. He and the rest of the employees where he works were laid off for three weeks. A big account was lost and they have a back up of product. We’re trying to take advantage of his time off to get some things done.

Aaaannnd, I’m trying to step up my Etsy business. And the booths. Call me crazy, but I think the treadmill is going to get lonesome.

A few reindeer in the pantry:

Also in the pantry:

My mother and me in 1962 in Lufkin, Texas. Kelty’s precisely. And if anybody went to Mable Lanier grammar school, I’d love to talk to you.

On the big dining table:

The little white tree is the bell tree this year:

And me playing with the camera and macro lens:

The plan is to put out more tomorrow and maybe the next day, but this is pretty much as far as I’ve got so far. It’s killing me, but I haven’t even got to see what you all have done! I know my blog list and I know with absolute certainty that all of you, if you did anything at all, have beautiful Christmas homes this year. Looking forward to sitting down and cruising through them all.

We pulled most of the boxes out and didn’t get much more done than that. Y’all know I’ve never shied away from showing my messes in all their glory, so here’s the Christmas box mess:

This doesn’t include the 4 boxes of tree ornaments and some other boxes that were to high and too wedged for us to get down. Nor does it include the big, gold, aluminum tree or the several small trees. But, as you can see, it does include a chair full of laundry that needs to be taken care of and a stack of Halloween pumpkins in the back of the room (with a box on top of it?). You don’t see the fall wreath, the raincoat, a big stuffed snowman, etc. And please pretend the hideous green chair is really covered in some awesome fabric. It will be. Someday. I just haven’t found it yet.

We did get a couple of little trees decorated, but I didn’t get pictures of them yet. They’re not in place. But this is what little was done.

I put a couple of trees in blue Ball jars with Epson Salt for the snow. Not sure I like the effect, though. The salt is so white and the tree is so not white.

Put a festive pin on top of a drawer knob. Actually, I did this last week.

And that’s it. What? You expected more? Ha! I guess I’ll be forced to do something now that everything’s drug out, but I don’t wanna!

I’m excited about this! Can you tell?

A couple of months ago I bought this stool. (Ruth D., this is the one you said you wanted to see.) The most fierce competition had already been to the yard sale and bought up most everything. There were still some furniture pieces with sold signs on them. Somewhat unattractive furniture pieces at that. But oddly, this stool was still hanging around. Am I the only one in this area who appreciates naturally aged, painted furniture? Probably.

Anyway, my intentions were to put it in the “white” bedroom that is no longer going to be white. As I was considering the stool the other day, knowing I couldn’t part with it, it hit me that I had the perfect spot for it. This spot has always had a kitchen stool and the one I’m replacing is wonderfully sturdy, but this little crackly stool looks so good here. And it’s the perfect spot to hold the jar full of tart tins. (I saw this idea either on someone’s blog or on Pinterest and naturally I can’t find it now to give credit to the inspiration inspirer person blog whatever.)

It was difficult getting a good picture. I tried all kinds of angles.

But do you want to see the real problem?

There’s that pesky modern invention on the counter to the right, I was too lazy to move the garbage bag in the background and the vacuum cleaner in the bottom right corner. (A Dyson, by the way and the best vacuum I’ve EVER owned.) There’s a cabinet door that won’t close at the moment, and Lawdy! The counter top to the left is in a horrible, flat surface, piled up, mess!

I’m linking to Faded Charm’s White Wednesday.

The picture colors aren’t quite true. I’d planned to use a bookcase in there with the back and shelves painted this same color. So far so good. You can see some of the inspiration rooms I’ve pinned on my “Spare bedroom ideas” board on Pinterest.

Then, at an auction a couple of weeks ago, I fell in love with a shabby, chippy, cream colored chest.

More pics of this later. It deserves a post of its own.

OK. This isn’t white. Hmmmm…

Then yesterday, a childhood friend’s mother called and said she was going to sell the iron and brass bed I’d admired and did I want to buy it? Yes, please.

It does have a foot board in the same pattern. Now, I originally planned to use either an upholstered headboard or no headboard, or a door or a mantle or something. But I do like this and it fits the room, so….. Now my white room will have gray, white, mint green, cream, brass and silver. Dangit! Best laid plans. I seem to be incapable of sticking to them.

Don’t expect to see any room pics any time soon. We don’t have a mattress, we’ll have to paint, and all kinds of things. I see at least a year in the making here. The 8 month in process craft room is still unfinished. It only lacks a few things, but they’re out of my control. Waiting on the hubby.