Wow! 2009!

Wow! 2009! How am I going to get used to writing 2009 when it hardly seems like 2008 was around that long? Of course, since parts of 2008 were very difficult, I am kinda glad to see it go. I am hoping that 2009 is full of blessings for all of us.

Mele Kalikimaka

I would like to wish each and every one of you a wonderful Christmas. Enjoy your families and be thoughtful of why we celebrate. Mele Kalikimaka me ka hauoli makahiki hou! God bless you!

Emergency Surgery

On Wednesday, we took our oldest son to the Emergency Room. He had been throwing up and now had a horrible pain on his side. At least he finally had the classic symptoms of appendicitis. The poor guy had been getting horribly sick every couple of months for the last year. Of course, his doctor had no idea why (we are switching doctors for more reasons that just this one).

Unfortunately for our wallet, the ER we took him to did not have a surgical unit so they had to transport him by ambulance to another hospital. Fortunately for us, it was a wonderful hospital. He received excellent care there. We were a little taken aback, however, when they told us that his surgeon was Dr. Dye. We didn't know at the time how it was spelled. We just knew how it sounded. He proved to be excellent.

Stephen is quite sore, but feeling much better. His surgery was done laproscopically which will leave him with hardly any scarring and he will never have appenicitis ever again.

Stephen was in the hospital from Wednesday to Saturday. I came home exhausted. In fact, I was so pooped that I didn't get all my groceries put away last night which included the big old chicken that I was planning to turn into chicken and dumplin's tonight. Guess I will be heading back to the store . . .

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to wish each and every one of my blogger friends a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your family and lots of good eats. If you would like, leave a comment and share what you are most thankful for. Enjoy!

Circa 1896

Just imagine how many love letters, not to mention bills that have been placed behind this door over all these years. Grover Cleveland was President of the United States when this door was patented and Henry Ford was out joy riding in his first car. I guess that means Henry Ford probably drove his car to pick up his mail from behind a door just like this one! They certainly don't make them like this anymore. Now, where's my key?

Featured on Vintage Indie

I am honored to be featured on Vintage Indie! Gabreial has kindly included my kitchen scales in their feature today. I found these wonderful scales while visiting the beautiful State of Arkansas this summer. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find items that do not contain plastic. This one is all metal.

Let's talk turkey

It's November and I'm already thinking about Thanksgiving. I can almost smell that fried turkey. Yum, yum, YUM! My husband's family is big, so I'm responsible for the broccoli rice casserole and a fresh apple pie with a crumb topping. My mouth is watering already. Those turkeys better make a run for it!

Texas Renaissance Festival

For my birthday, my sister and I drove up to the Texas Ren. Festival and had a BLAST! It is way more fun to go dressed up.

We went on the 1001 Dreams weekend where we were surrounded by wizards, elves, and fairies.

Even some fairy faeries.

You just never know what you will see there.

Enid Collins

I was so excited when I spotted this wonderful Enid Collins purse today. I think the only reason that it was still there was because it wasn't marked. Yeah for me!!

I'll get you my pretty -

and your little dog, too! - then I'll bake you some yummy cookies. LOL!

Do you remember baking sugar cookies with your Mom for the school Halloween party? Well, not me. We had some pretty awesome costumes, though. When I was in elementary, we got to go to school dressed up and had some fun parties. We also had a school-wide parade. Those were the good old days!

Dodged a nasty bullet

We dodged a bullet this time. Please pray for those caught in Ike's path. This storm is ferocious. The worst part of it is the huge storm surge. My sister's home is right in its path. She's here with me, so she's safe. She drove down a couple of days ago with both of her fur babies. It is a very anxious night for us.

Update: My sister has talked to a firefighter in Clute and has been assured that her apartment is fine, but lacks power. She can stay with me and my cool air conditioning until they restore the power and other services. In the meantime, we are having nice "sister time".

I don't like Ike

. . . and he certainly is not welcome. He has made me a bit apprehensive since I live in the center of the cone of uncertainty. Of course, I don't wish this storm on anyone else, but I don't want to deal with it. Doesn't he know that I have way too much to do and have too much on my mind already to be concerned about where he plans to go? I have just been given a huge deadline of October 1 to come up with 7 to 10 product sketches. I need to get back to work now. Please keep us in your prayers.

Instant ancestor

This guy is someone's ancestor, just not mine. He's a rather handsome fellow for his age. LOL! I have him hanging in my livingroom. I guess I could always come up with a clever story . . .

Clay's new ride

Apparently, my son, Clayton was having trouble with his money burning a hole in his pocket so he bought himself a fun toy. I'm really proud of him. He's been able to save up and pay cash. It's a used bike, but it had only 1,300 miles on it! Almost like getting a brand-new one. He's thinking of getting some l.e.d. lights installed under it. That would look incredible. He's going to have to beat the girls off with a stick.

Oh, don't worry. He's wearing a hat for the picture. When he rides, he uses his full helmet. He's not only good looking - he's smart, too!

Best 10 bucks I ever spent!

I am still doing my *happy dance*. I went junkin' this morning and I spotted this leaning against the house. The first thing I noticed was the $10 price tag. Let me tell you - it really got my attention. I thought I was seeing things at first. She said that it had *problems*. She said that one of the legs was shorter than the rest. I decided that my handy husband would just have to take care of that little detail. I looked the rest over and knew this baby was going home with me. At that point I really didn't have any clue how I was going to get it home as it certainly wasn't going to fit in my car. We have a huge truck, but I'm afraid to drive it and my husband was at work.

My neighbor's son ended up rescuing me. When we loaded it in truck, I discovered the problem with the leg. You'll never believe it . . .


. . . it was just missing one of its wheels!!

I was already aware that it was also missing the hardware and mirror, but for $10 you just can't be that picky!!!

The eyes have it

. . . not ayes - eyes!

I found the cool glasses on my trip to Arkansas last month. They are in pretty good shape considering how old they are. I wonder about the woman who used to wear them. What was she like? Did she have a family? Perhaps she wore these glasses to work or maybe was she a homemaker. What I do know is that she used to live in Milan, Tennessee. Somehow, the glasses ended up in a cute little antique shop in Conway, Arkansas and then in my hot little hands.

How much does that thing weigh?

I guess I'll be able to figure out how much it weighs just as long as it doesn't weigh more than 25 pounds. If it weighs more than that, I don't want to pick it up anyway! I love the patina this scale has. It is painted silver and it reminds me of something that my grandparents had. I just can't reach that far back to remember exactly what that was!

Sweet little birdies

These sweet little birds landed in my shop. They are actually salt and pepper shakers. I think they are simply adorable!

I hit 100!

I appreciate each and every one of you who have "hearted" me on Etsy. Thank you so much for making me feel so loved! If one of these hearts are yours, please leave a comment and let me know how you found me.

For lack of a map

For some reason, I hadn't checked out my route well enough for my trip through Oklahoma. I thought I knew where I was going, but No! I was on the wrong highway. I needed to head to Fort Smith, Arkansas and not Tulsa. It's a good thing I stopped to ask for directions. I knew I was in trouble when the girl at the gas station said, "Where's Fort Smith"? Luckily, she had an Oklahoma map and I was able to figure it out for myself. To correct my path, I had to take Highway 75 South, but look at all the goodies I found! This was one of those dusty little shops with no air conditioning where you have to dig through boxes and move things to see what "treasures" are hiding. I'm glad that I have wipes in my trunk because my fingers were very dirty and I'm a little fanatical about washing my hands, but I just couldn't resist the hunt.

Mt. Nebo

We had a wonderful hike on Mt. Nebo in Arkansas while we were on our trip. It was a bit warm, but well worth it - especially the VIEW!

We came upon a cool cave that we stopped to enjoy. All in all, the hike took about 2 1/2 hours!

I hope to get back there one day . . .

Road Trip

My husband and I just returned from a buying trip last night. We drove over 2,000 miles through Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. It was nice to see my old house again. The house looks a bit "tired" now. It's located just off of the historic Route 66. In fact, the doctor's office where I was born is actually on Route 66. My Dad got a job closer to Oklahoma City so they sold the house. After the people who bought it sold it, my grandparents ended up buying it so it was their home for awhile, too. It had a huge, deep lot and my grandparents had a wonderful garden where they grew gigantic blackberries, tomatoes, green beans - you name it. We slept upstairs in the guest room. The staircase was just off of the kitchen so we would wake up to the smell of frying bacon wafting up. What a wonderful way to wake up!

Wonderful Saturday Finds

I found some lovely goodies when I went out garage-saling this morning. These were all from one spot. Had I known, I could have stopped there because I didn't find anything at the other spots I went to. I remember riding in to Oklahoma City with my mom, sister, aunt and cousins to visit the S & H green stamp redemption store. Trading stamps were fazed out soon after I got married so I didn't get to save up for very much. I remember selecting a tabletop ironing board, a plant stand, and a dictionary. Ours were called Texas Gold Stamps and they were yellow, of course. It was fun while it lasted. I guess the loyalty cards you get at the grocery and drug stores and have replaced the stamps.

Oh, you nodder head!

There was a spring in my step this morning after I loaded these into my trunk (pun intended, LOL) I'm trying to think of all the possibilities these fine treasures offer. I'm thinking nodder heads, or maybe even some interesting assemblage piece. Hmmm . . .

Welcome to Attic Rat

Welcome to Attic Rat. Here is where you will find vintage, flea market, and wonderful attic finds. I get dust in my whiskers, but I find some cool stuff! This cabinet card is Billy Smith, a handsome Texan. He presented his photo to his niece, Molly. I am guessing that he was her favorite uncle because she kept such great care of his picture. He looks like the kind of uncle that would never show up empty-handed, but always had candy or some other treat for his nieces and nephews.