A Self Imposed Hiatus

Dear friends,

     It has been a crazy summer 'round here.  So much has been going on that I've barely been able to keep my head above water.  Hence, no blogging, no stitching (to speak of), not much of anything, really. 

Well, except for retail therapy.  

I've done a bit lot of that.  

The retail therapy has mostly involved estate sales and the sale rack at our local department store.  I bought a lot of great things at bargain basement prices.  

I bought quite a few dresses and have enjoyed wearing them this summer, which is a kind of a new thing for me.  

You see, I've always had really skinny legs.  I mean, seriously, SKINNY and was always very embarrassed to wear a dress or shorts or anything that exposed them.  People used to make fun of me; call me chicken legs, ask how those skinny sticks could possibly hold me up, even called me Annie Rexia.  How I managed to cheer in high school is beyond me.  It almost killed me sometimes  - the embarrassment of having everyone see my skinny legs was torture.  Oh, did I mention that I was a little bow legged too.  Do you know how hard it is to stand in cheer formation and try to squeeze your legs together so they wouldn't look so bowed AND skinny.

Things like that made me the self conscious person I am today.

I remember that I had to wear a dress (mandatory) for a speech class I took in my freshman year of high school.  I was more terrified of having to wear a dress in front of all the beautiful girls and their gorgeous legs (not to mention the cute boys) than I was to give my speech.  My mom took me to get a dress and a pair of great shoes that I remember to this day.  They were a tan sandal styled wedge (pretty high heel) and I loved them.  They almost made wearing the dress bearable.  

ALMOST. 

 Everyone still laughed at me and teased me that day.  I'll never forget it.  It was devastating and the effects have lasted into adulthood.  I am still very self-conscious and am sure people are pointing and laughing at me, still.

But.... my son Tyler, at the beginning of the summer said to me, "Wow, Mom!  You've really gotten some trunks from all the running you've been doing."  It may be the greatest compliment I have ever received.  At 51 years old, my son gave me the confidence to buy and wear dresses this summer.  Lots of dresses!  

It has been fun.  Thanks, Ty!

Which is why these little treasures made their way home with me.  Aren't they fabulous!?  I just love how well they're made and of course, being red; they're perfect.

BTW, the pictures are not very good - I've lost my camera and these were all taken with my phone.  I think they're going to be clickable but sorry they're not better.

But that's not all the retail therapy I did.  Here, are some of the other things I've found this summer at estate sales:

I got this perfect KitchenAid mixer with original cover and book and attachments for $30.  I thought it was a great buy.  I've always wanted one (not sure why, I don't bake) and was tickled to find it at such a great price and in such pristine condition.  I got this early in the summer and have yet to make anything with it other than mashed potatoes.  I know... But, the mashed potatoes were AWESOME!

How about this beauty?  It was also $30 on the last day of the sale.

It included the machine, a ton of attachments, instruction book and the cabinet and stool.  Turns out this is a really good machine.  A Singer 403 Slant-o-matic and it's in perfect condition.  I know, I don't sew either.  But it was $30!!!  

I couldn't just leave it there.  

 I don't bake and I don't sew.  What do I do????  Good question.

Here's a close up;

Yes!  That is Elvis.  He is in Michigan and lives in my basement.  

God, he was a gorgeous man!  Uh sorry, I was distracted (happens often).  The machine isn't bad either, is it?  These were the two most expensive things I bought at estate sales this summer.  The rest of the things I'm going to show you were very inexpensive.

I found these cute scales (not at the same place) and there was no question but that they had to come home with me.

In case you can't tell, I put my silver thimbles in the egg scale.

I found the three big, red, bread tins at a local antique mall.  They were all about $8 - $10 each and I think they look great stacked up.  I've cleaned out my cabinets in the craft room and put things I don't use very often in the tins.  I have done a lot of craft room cleaning and got rid of a lot of stuff I no longer want or use to make room for my new, old stuff!

Are you bored yet????   I'm going to show you some more!

I didn't buy this but I thought it was a beautiful machine.  

Do you think the maker thought that calling it Cinderella and putting pretty graphics on it that the labor of sewing might make you feel better about the work you were doing?  Maybe whatever you were making would turn you into a wondrous creature, just like Cinderella at the ball  I don't, know but it sure is pretty!

This little vintage treasure was a gift from Julie.

Have you ever seen anything like them before?

The clothespins are so small and dainty.

I can't wait to go to Paris someday and take these with me to hang my beautiful lingerie on the line in my hotel room.  Which will, by the way, be overlooking the Eiffel Tower 

( a girl can dream).

I found this little, tin, hoosier cabinet at an estate sale and just had to have it. 

I have it on the countertop in my craft room and think it's just the perfect, little thing to place some of my other treasures.

The Santos doll to the right of the cabinet was a gift from Rob.  Isn't she beautiful!?

The other thing I found this summer was a lot of Desert Rose dishes.  I can now say that I have a fairly large collection.  I love them and use them everyday.  Here are some of the not so everyday pieces I've gotten:

I've found a couple of fun flower frogs recently in addition to all the other crap treasures I've brought home.

These are all crystal or glass and are so pretty, I think.  I especially like the tall one that looks like a tulip:

Oh, I also wanted to show you my collection of pincushion dolls.  The latest addition to the collection is the baby doll in the gold, velvet cushion.  

Isn't she sweet?  She was a gift from Rob.

Her dress, on the bottom, looks like the green velvet that Scarlet O'Hara used to make her dress when she went to visit Rhett in prison.   

The baby has aged well, her frock, not so much!

In case you're wondering where I store some of my treasures:

This is a little curio cabinet in the foyer of my home.  I rotate things in and out of here but this is what it looked like today.  I have four little sewing machines - the smallest is a timex clock (in front of the teal machine).  Other treasures are from friends and finds at estate sales/antique stores.  The little doll on the right was from my mom and the adorable schnauzer bank is a gift from Sheila.

Where do you keep all your treasures???

Finally, some stitching.

Here is my Mystery Sampler.  

I just sort of stalled on it and just picked it back up the other night.  

I don't like the color of the letters.  

I didn't like how they looked on my fabric when I started but for some reason, I kept plugging away.   

Idiot!

The color has not grown on me.  

So... I will do something.  What, I'm not sure.

I may change my initials to red and see if that'll be enough to help the other letters pop, which I doubt..  Or, I may just frog all the letters and pick another color to stitch them (but gosh, I HATE frogging and re-stitching).  They looked great on the original Brenda did, but my floss and fabric are just too close together.  

They don't stand out enough.  

They're very blah.

I'm so mad at myself for not changing them from the get-go.

AAAGH!!!!

And, believe it or not, that's all I've got.  

2 months of not blogging and this is it.

Sorry it's not a better post.

I will be going to Savannah, GA in September, with my mom.  I needed a few days away and she agreed to accompany me.  Any suggestions about must see things to do besides the standard sites?  I can't wait to get away and see this historic, beautiful city.

Thank you so much for all the emails asking about me, I appreciate them more than you know.

I do have some wonderful gifts that I received recently I'm going to show you but that'll have to wait for another day.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Have a wonderful week.

Peace!

Terri