A Birthday Gift

My sister-in-law, Jennifer, and my mother-in-law recently went to Cape Cod.

Last year when I was there, I picked up several small stones on the beach to make some

wire-wrapped jewelry. I thought I would make a piece for Jennifer for her birthday.

Here is how it came out. I love this stone. Such pretty colors in it.

I really like doing this kind of work, but I'm afraid I can't do much more of it right now. The reason is that I CAN'T SEE! I have gotten so old now that my eyes cannot focus on things I need to see up close and I cannot work on it when I hold it out far enough to see it because I need it close! Ya know what I'm saying??? I'm in a bad way. I guess I need bifocals.

Yuck! 

Junkin'

I love thrifting, or junkin', as my old friend Amy and I used to call it. We used to go out all the time. We even went to Minnesota to stay with her sister and go junkin' there! Back then we used to look for vintage glass. We both had a fettish for compotes and cake stands.

My next trip out with Susan netted me some good finds like the first time.

I got these sweet Buffalo China bowls. I would like to sell them on Etsy but I'm finding myself wanting to use them.


I also picked up..

...a transistor radio.

Or is it?

It's not!

It's a flask in disguise!

Isn't this cool? I never saw anything like it. It even has a fake knob to adjust the radio station and holes punched into the case so the "sound" can come through from the speaker.

The flask doesn't even look like it was used.

The case says "SWANK" on the bottom.

I haven't gone out junkin" in a while now. But now that I've looked at these photos again, I really want to go!

What cool finds have you thrifted lately??

Thanks for stopping by!

Buffalo Garden Walk

Here is a look at the Buffalo Garden Walk. It is held the weekend after the one I went to in my community.  It is widely anticipated and people come from all over the country to see the work these people have put into their gardens. In some cases there can be a whole street of houses that participate in the walk. There is a real sense of community.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great Sunday!! :)

 



Niagara Falls

My niece, Jill, and her two kids have been in town from Washington. Since they live so far away, it was great to see them. We don't see them very often.

We thought it would be fun to go to Niagara Falls.

I took this photo from out on the end of this...

..the observation deck.

We planned on going down to ride on the Maid of the Mist.

Doesn't it look so far away?

There was 18 of us in all, we went down to the lower gorge and got on the boat. We had those lovely and stylish blue ponchos to put on. But it was so hot in the sun, they were sticking to our skin.

So Little V wore only the hood.

But as we got closer to the Canadian Falls, we got doused with water. It was like a rain storm. The captain of the boat stayed in the same spot for about 5 minutes and we got drenched. There was so much mist, we couldn't even look up to see the falls. We laughed so hard. Then the boat started listing because we were in the rapids at the bottom of the falls. It was hilarious. So nice to make memories with family that I don't get to see that often.

 

The view towards Canada.

A picnic lunch.

 

This tour is called The Cave of the Winds. It basically is standing under the falls water as it comes down. You can get really soaked especially if you go all the way to the top of the deck. It's called the Hurricane Deck. We took the kids when they were younger. It is so much fun.

A group decided they wanted to go down and have a look (or a shower).

This is the before...

...this is the after.

Everyone got a new pair of sandals.

A view from the brink.

Hope you all are making memories with your families this summer!

Thanks for stopping in. :)



Thrifty Gals

At the end of this past school year, my friend Susan and I did a lot of thrift store hopping.

One week we went from Salvation Army to a church owned thrift store, to Amvets, to Goodwill.

Here are some of the things I scored that day.

We  started out at Salvation Army.

First off, I have been looking for brown transfer ware plates since March. I almost dropped over at the sight of these!

17 pieces for $9.99! They say "Mason's Patent Ironstone, England" on them.

I also got these four sandwich trays.

Supposedly, these were for a sandwich, a drink and a ciggy. There is a formation in the front right corner that looks like its a cig rest. But I refuse to believe that my parents and their peers would have their food and a smoke on the same tray, so I'm using the spot for a spoon. Like so.

I think it looks quite lovely like this.

At the next shop I got this silverplate bowl...

...and this really beautiful pink chenille bedspread.

After that we headed over to Amvets where we came across a box of old canning jars that we split.

This one is a wide mouth jar. I never saw one like this before. It says "wholefruit" on it, so I suppose that was it's purpose.

I put it in my bathroom and filled it with soaps my husband brought back from France for me.

I love small stoneware bowls. :) So many uses.

 

And I found a couple of creamers.

I really got some good deals that day.
I'll do another post with some items I picked up the following week!

Thanks for stopping by!