Beautiful State, Beautiful Country

Driving west through New York on my way out to Buffalo...
...the wildflowers on the side of the road took my breath away....
...just like the wildflowers do when I am in the Hudson River Valley or when we are at the lake house in the northern part of the state.



I remember years ago on our trip out west...
...the wildflowers painting the Rockies were so exciting...
...the colors were a bit different and ever so beautiful...



Chicory and Queen Anne's Lace are my favorites...
...most prevalent on New York's roadways...
...so most familiar to me...
...and, of course...blue and white...



Anyway, I am still in Buffalo and we're still working on the moving process...



I have enjoyed visiting with Dan's friends as they stopped by to return movies and games, pick up sweatshirts and cufflinks, drop off graduation presents and share photos and exchange plates that once were home to chocolate chip cookies...
...lucky Dan had several sweet girls that saw to it that he never went hungry.



Tonight he took me out to dine at a cozy comfortable family restaurant where one of his good friends waitresses on weekends. It was the place that Dan and his friends would meet for dinner on Saturdays over the last few years. We received extra special treatment!



Change is good.
Change shakes things up...
but it is also sometimes very hard...



Tomorrow we finish loading the vehicles and give this place a final cleaning...

Sunday we will travel east and go to the lake house where my parents are now.
Dan wants to spend some quiet time at the lake and visit with his grandparents before he begins his new job.

I'm hoping to get off the highway at some point so as to be able to stop along the way and pick a few wildflowers to bring to my Mom.

Who knows, there might even be a yard sale to stop at! :)

Have a great weekend!

Last day to enter the 500th Post Give Back!
...the winner will be randomly selected on August 1st!

P.S. Thank you for all your comments and don't worry...
....I will NOT throw out the postage stamps I found!!

Woman's Day...Oh What a Day!

My mother in law continues to clean out and yesterday she brought me two magazines...
...the first is a 1914 Vogue...
...it's fabulous and I will share it in a later post.

I was particularly delighted with the Woman's Day pictured above as it is a 1952 edition!



Now, let me tell you about my day.

First of all, I am in Buffalo at Dan's law school apartment...
...he's moving out and onward as he has graduated and, as of yesterday...
finished taking the BAR.
(Thank you all for your prayers...
...we have to wait until November to see if you prayed hard enough... :) wink, wink).

Anyway...I made the 7 hour drive today...arrived around 4:30 p.m. and immediately began doing laundry and cleaning three years worth of bachelor pad grime...
(a privilege and pleasure)

Dan has gone out to celebrate with his law school friends.
Good for them! They have worked so hard and deserve to relax a bit.
Although their fun is tinged with a bit of sadness as they are going off in different directions and will miss each other.

Back to Woman's Day...
When I was a very young girl my Nana had a washing machine like the one above....
I can remember pulling the clothes through the wringer and then helping her hang the clothes on the line outside behind the farmhouse. That's a good memory! :)





I haven't read the above article yet..."How To Be A Girl".
I don't know as if I need to read it...
I think I've got that down pretty good by now.



I enjoyed the advertising and the old graphics ...
...some of the products we still use today....RIT for one!



OK... he left me here with absolutely no food in the apartment...
I'm hungry!



Now, I haven't read this article yet either...
"I Live With My Grown-Up Children"...
But I am about to.

Dan is temporarily moving back home as he has secured a job in our area.
A job, as we all know, is a very good thing...
...especially when there are student loans to be paid back.

Mr. Flea is excited to have Dan back in the area and available to hang out with...
...he is not so excited to be giving up his Empty Nest.

Dan is excited to have a job...
...not so excited to have to move back in with his parents temporarily.

We will work it out!

I am happy to have both my boys with me! :)



These were the fashions back in the day...
...It is hard to imagine but in 1952 my Mom was 25.
She had a beautiful figure and could easily have worn these fashions...



Well, after this weekend of cleaning and packing and moving...
I hope Avon calls on me...
I will surely need it!



...or perhaps I will need this!
:)

Once again, thank you for all your kind comments and good wishes for my family.

And thank you for all your suggestions on what to do with my vintage postage stamps.
Do you really think one of them could be valuable?
...gee...I could help Dan pay off his loans...or buy Kate an apartment in Manhattan...
...or maybe Mr. Flea wants a new kayak...

...snap out of it Laura!
...remember your "Symphony"...To live content with small means...etc. etc.

Fun to daydream once in a while! :)

Only 2 days left to enter the 52 FLEA 500th Post Give-Back!

If you would like a chance to win click HERE to leave a comment!

Oops...have to run down to the laundry room before someone gets the dryer before me!
:)

The Contents of the Tin Boxes

At the Flea this weekend there was a man selling stacks of these State Express Cigarette tin boxes from 210 Piccadilly London for $1.00 each.

I thought that they were kind of neat...
although most had been defaced with the name of a country written in marker across the front.

I picked out what I thought were the best two...
...not too much of the underlying graphics scraped off...Ceylon and India.
(I have since been able to remove most of the marker).

At the flea I opened one or two and they were empty tins....

...but when I got home I discovered they were both filled with...




old postage stamps!





Don't you just love little surprises like that?
Somebody was an avid stamp collector!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that because I bought a lovely old photo album from this man...he threw the tins in...so they cost nothing! :)

Hmm...what to do with them now...
collage? altered art?
What would you do with them?
...maybe just throw them out?

A heartfelt thank you to all who have left kind comments about 52 FLEA in the last few days...
...and for those who have sent up prayers and good wishes for my Mom.
Your words have warmed my heart...

There are a few days left to enter the 52 FLEA 500th Post Give Back!
The winner will be picked on August 1st!

Have a great night!
...and Thursday...
:)

Shabby Chic Surprise

Since being the lucky winner of Dusty Lu's Give Away...
...I have been looking forward to receiving Rachel Ashwell's book...

Shabby Chic Interiors, My Rooms, Treasures and Trinkets...



It arrived in the mail today!

I have loved Rachel's style for years...
...how lovely to have an autographed copy of this wonderful book!



Rachel dedicated this book to her Mum...
...who was born the same year as my Mom...



I love that.



Thank you Rachel...
...and thank you Lulu for hosting this wonderful give away!
I am one lucky girl!



My hydrangeas are fading in this heat...
...but so am I ! :)



At the Flea this weekend...
The Brocantess and I came across a box full of these old cold cream jars...

Mimi has vision...
...she bought them all and then let me take a few home.



So pretty...
The good news is that Mom was released from the hospital today and she and Dad are back at my sister Mary Beth's home.



The other good news is that those law school grads in Buffalo have completed day one of the BAR exam ...Whew!
By all accounts...it was difficult!

They are getting ready for the next part tomorrow so keep them in your thoughts and prayers!
Thank you!



I am linking to White Wednesday over at Kathleen's Faded Charm...
For more participants click HERE!

To enter the 52 FLEA 500th Post Give Back....click HERE...
Winner to be selected on August 1st !

Hope you all have a good night and a wonderful Wednesday!
:)

Sunday Flea Finds

Just a few of the fun finds we found at the flea this weekend...







This old burlap feed sack caught my eye with the name Bouckville, NY ...
... The Madison Bouckville antique show, one of my favorites... is in a few weeks...



But once I saw the 52 stamped on the bottom...
...well, you know...



Love, love, love red books!
Detective stories on the left...
Shakespeare in really soft leather covers on the right!



Three little hats.....$1.50 for all....



A fabulous strawberry ice cream mold...



skeleton keys, tin hearts, drapery tacks...
... and the coolest of the cool...
...the remnants of an old French thermometer!



A sweet Madonna framed souvenir from Florence, Italy



The tiniest little folding Corona typewriter!
Here is some information about it....
...although the patent dates on the back of mine say 1904 and 1910.







Love it!



A book of French postcards, some old lace...
...and a copper sprinkler head



These were my favorite finds though...
An elderly gentleman was selling off his collection of old chocolate molds....

Mimi....The Brocantess and I had a great time sorting through these...
...and there were hundreds of them!
I love the champagne bottles...tiny rabbit...decorated eggs...



And....of course the shoe was my favorite!

Deanna of that wonderful shop Gather was able to find some elephants...the icons of Ivoryton!

There was lots more....
...which I will save for another day.

My Mom was kept another night at the hospital so we are hoping tomorrow is the day she comes home! She is looking pretty good!

...and finally...

There are a bunch of law students up in Buffalo, NY about to take the 2 day BAR exam ...
I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone in particular so I will just say that if anyone is so inclined to pray for stamina, endurance and focus for these students on Tuesday and Wednesday....
...I am sure they would all appreciate it!

...and finally, finally...

If you haven't entered the 52 FLEA 500th Post Give Back ....click HERE!
The winner will be randomly selected on August 1st.

:)

Pretty Funny Vintage

Each day on the way to visit my Mom in the hospital,
I pass a big old Victorian house with a sign that says ANTIQUES...
... and one that says Curious Goods.

Yesterday, I stopped as I was curious about the goods!

I am so glad I did!

The name of this place is Pretty Funny Vintage!

Piles of wonderful things!

Look at all this vintage jewelry!




Stephanie Ross....the owner and proprietress has a fabulous mix of antiques, vintage items and a few new items with vintage flair...

She travels monthly to New England and Pennsylvania...
... and with an experienced and discerning eye selects an ever changing assortment of eclectic and interesting antiques and vintage items for her shop.

Stephanie then enjoys displaying everything in artistic and creative vignettes...

Oh what fun it was to poke around in here!



There is a large collection of beautiful vintage clothes...



Loads of prints and plates and other ephemera...



An eclectic mix of smalls...
...some quirky...all fun!



Vintage toys, suitcases, wooden boxes, chests of drawers and industrial tables...



Goose neck lamps, scientific equipment, vintage sporting goods















handmade and artsy things...
...lots of wonderful gift ideas here...



...and pearls.
...lots and lots of vintage poils!

To learn more about this unusual and engaging shop visit her website HERE...

It was really fun to visit with Stephanie and while there, her good friend and photographer
Tara Thayer stopped in! She is also a blogger and we had a good time chatting about some of our favorites out there in bloglandia!

You can visit Tara's blog www.publicbookstore.blogspot.com by clicking HERE.

I did get to the Flea Market this morning....met up with Mimi...aka...The Brocantess...
We had fun searching for treasure together!

We also ran into my good friend Deanna of Gather in Ivoryton, CT.
She was finding lots of goodies for her fabulous shop!
I have to get back there again soon!

I will try to get a few of my Sunday finds photographed tomorrow morning in order to share pics with you tomorrow night!

Have a great Monday!

P.S. If you haven't already entered for a chance to win 52 FLEA's 500th Post Give Back....
click HERE!
:)