Cast My Vote and Picked A Winner

Today was wonderful

 with a warm house, electricity and sunshine!

We are feeling so fortunate as my sister still has no power...

...and of course, so many people have lost everything as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Mr. Flea and I got out early in order to cast our votes

 in the Presidential election.

I had a little time to take a few pictures

 of my pretty deep green Belgium bottles and French canning jars.

Thinking of using more green and red

 in my Christmas decorations this year.

I used to always use this color palette...

but then... 

...moved more toward a white and natural

 Christmas the last few years.

  I like both.

 In fact...

I also love a blue and silver and gray Christmas combination.

Perhaps I will use all three!

I will probably leave out my lavender and purple bottles

 when I decorate for Christmas ...even though...

...that could be pretty too!

It's obvious I have no idea yet which way I will go! :)

Speaking of purple bottles...

...thank you for all your comments!

The randomly selected winner of the Giveaway is...

ZuZu from A Cottage In The Woods.

Thanks again so much for all your support,

 words of encouragement and prayers.

 You folks are the best!

:)

Making Space!

Good morning!

Yesterday, the late afternoon sunshine peeked through my window here at the lake house and lit up the green glass on the windowsill.

...and the blue glass.

:)

I've been busy up in the attic...

It's amazing how much stuff you can stash away over 23 summers!

Yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets...

Oh my!

...here the fading sun streams across the kitchen counter tops

 that Dad and I painted gray last summer.

(wasn't that fun?!)

It turns out that I have waayyyy too many treasures to keep.

Mr. Flea calls it junk.

Dad calls it inventory.

One of my neighbors up here...

...who has been greatly amused watching me

 drag all this stuff out of the camp...

...called it 

semi precious recyclables.

don't you love it? :)

Setting up a new booth at Schoolhouse Treasures...

...hoping to free up some space here at the lake house.

Next week we have a houseful...

...of friends and family...

...hopefully not junk, inventory or 

semi precious recyclables!

:)

What are you all up to this weekend?

celebrating the 4th? vacation? gardening? cleaning out?

Let me know and I'll read all about your goings on tonight...

...for now...I'm back to work and off the computer!

:)

Bric Brac

Bric Brac!

I have been cleaning out the corners of this cottage...

...going to bring all these odds and ends of glassware to the booth.

A lot of this old green glass was from Brody or Hoosier...

for the florist trade.

 I used to pick it up wherever I found it

 as it went so well with the lush green

 of the tall pines in these mountains.

I have tons of it...haven't gotten to the attic yet.

Bud vases...so pretty all together on a long table...

...perhaps for a summer picnic, or even a bridal shower or wedding!

This rich green color also works well Christmastime.

Manly glassware.

Bar ware.

Cheerful summery colors of the 40's and 50's 

Lynn and I have been cleaning out

 and putting price tags on all these odds and ends.

I am thinking that my little booth will have an Adirondack flair to it to begin with as I part with some of the vintage souvenir collectibles, old kitchenware from camps and cottages and equipment from

 outdoor activities...like fishing, hunting and canoeing items.

... and then there are all these items...

...can't keep it all!

My Dad pulled out the last of the old apple picking ladders

 from the farm...it was under his camp.

I am going to use it to display linens and things.

This is one of 4 old panels made from bark cloth.

You can see the Oriental influence in the mountain motif.

There were lots of this type of fabric used in the old camps

 and cottages in this area.

Time to pass it all along to someone who will make

 good use of these things.

 (Hopefully someone will want this stuff!)

We've been busy...

sorting, planning, chatting and enjoying each other's company.

Just a few days left before Lynn heads back to Chicago.

What will I do without her?

It's another new day.

I hope yours is filled with joy!

:)

Cleaning Out

Last weekend I had planned to go to the flea market on Sunday.......I took Friday off of work in order to clean off my front porch which I am embarrassed to confess had become a storage area over the last few years....



I filled the back seat of my car as well as the trunk with tons of stuff to bring to the thrift store....



It felt really good to begin to get a handle on what exactly I had, what I wanted to keep and what I knew I could get rid of......



It felt even better when I delivered it all to the thrift store this afternoon.....they loved it all and even gave me a statement for my taxes.....



I really got into the purging process....I am afraid I have been a bit of a hoarder (stop laughing at me family) ....anyway.....I was so involved in the cleaning out process I decided not to go to the market on Sunday and instead kept going through all this stuff that had accumulated.....


I think you could say that I might have even had a breakthrough.....My family will be very impressed and proud of me as I plan to continue cleaning out this coming weekend.......
Oh and by the way.....the things in these photographs.....well, they are the things I kept....and are back on the porch.....couldn't quite part with them yet....