Hot time in the old town!!!!

It was such a hot, sultry weekend but still beautiful and green. We've had lots of rain this year so things are growing like crazy -- including the weeds. My hydrangeas are gorgeous this summer. Last year the late freeze killed the blossoms so they're making up for it this summer. I cut some on Friday & they're already dry. They're the most beautiful shades of blue & green.

I had to put a picture of these white butter pats & doll dishes that I had. There's something about stacking a whole bunch of white together that I love. My sisters & I took a trip once & raced into every flea market we went by in Iowa to see who could find the most white ironstone tiny dishes. It's one of my favorite collections.

Summer pasttime -- Garage sales!

Friday was such a good garage sale day. Beautiful weather until about 11:00 when we started feeling the heat. Allison and the grandkids decided they wanted to come along so we loaded in Allison's minivan and off we went.



It seems to me that it's the greatest way to stimulate our economy and don't forget the whole recycling aspect. Almost everything I bought will now be taken to Leola's to be sold and used again. We also made note that everything we bought was made in America except for the ironstone pitcher that came from England. Even the books were published and printed in the US.

The gandkids bought books, paper, toys, and Sage bought a lock box for all his treasures. Things that would most likely be thrown away if there hadn't been a garage sale. Allison bought vintage jewelry that she'll either wear or use in a future craft project.

The people having the garage sales will most likely take this money and go to the grocery store, get their hair done, do a home improvement, or come to Leola's and purchase something of mine so we all reap the reward.

Makes perfect sense to me!

Another day at the store

These days I'm spending 2 days a week at the shop. It's a great place to be right now because there's always lots going on. On any given day we can have people in from all over the US & today we even had a lady from Germany. Judy came in for a few hours of work & brought this arrangement. I thought it was so pretty & simple & came from her yard.


Gay was also working & brought along an assistant (Lucy). Gay actually has 2 boys of her own & no girls so she borrowed one from a friend for the day.

I'll work again tomorrow & then I have the rest of the week to do with as I wish. That usually means I'm picking green beans. I swear I could have set up a roadside stand this year with all the green beans I'm harvesting. What I don't understand is why they couldn't have come on when the tomatoes start ripening. Oh, well, it's not like I don't have 10 bags in the freezer.

Shopping at Leola's!

I was working in the shop this morning & Kelli & I were trying to figure out what is doing best in the shop right now. Needless to say, on any given day it could be something different (& usually is), but we seem to consistently sell our primitives well. Even with French decorating being so "hot", that good old primitive Americana still ends up the winner. Here are a few things I took pictures of today.


We have 2 of our renters who have sold primitives for years & they don't deviate much from that. My sister Linda & I also have quite a bit of the American primitives. There just always seem to be collectors around looking for the really good early "stuff".

We have lots of visitors from out-of-town who make it a point to check the shop out when there in town or headed to Branson. You would never know it by our parking lot (& Lamberts) that the price of gas is almost $4.00. Thank you God!!!!!

This was some things Judy had arranged on a table & I loved the way it looked.

These were 2 of our visitors from last week (mother & daughter). Mother bought a picnic tin for her collection & daughter bought one of Debra's watches.

My garden!

I'm finally able to actually get something from my garden. I've had basil & different herbs for sometime but due to all the rain & cool temps everything (except lettuces) was kind of slow. Anyway, it was worth the wait. I fixed a wonderful green bean salad out of the current issue of Country Home & it was yummy. My Mom always fixed her green beans with bacon grease & a ton of salt. She'd put them on the stove & let them cook for hours until they were almost mush. I always loved her green beans. The way I cook them now, they almost taste like a different vegetable.

4th of July, 2008 -- What's it all about!!!

Dad playing Strawberry Shortcake while waiting for hotdogs.

Eli having a ride on Dad's shoulders -- while waiting for hotdogs!

The bathing beauties & their brother Sage checking out Kelli's golfcart.

Mom is making sure Phoebe has her sunscreen on. The only place she missed was the part in her hair which ended up quite red.

The best part of the 4th to the kids is that they get to play with fire.