Leola's Fall Open House.....

It's been called to my attention several times lately that I've kind of become a slacker when it comes to my blog.  I've actually recognized that fact but it seems that every time I think I'll give it a try, life gets in the way.  We'll see if I can get through an entire post on this beautiful Tuesday morning without an interruption.

It's been a crazy summer and it has flown by.  First of all, I put my house back on the market with very little action.  It's so strange how it immediately sold before but now that I did the work to it, no one is interested.  It's hard always trying to keep everything looking just so and trying to live a normal life.....or a so-called normal life!  It's also difficult not being settled.  Oh, well, things could be so much worse....I'm really not feeling sorry for myself.

This is my current project.....harvesting and drying my sweet annie.  I have a huge crop growing in my garden.  It was difficult finding glycerin this year which is what I use to preserve it.  After checking locally, I finally had to order off Amazon.  One bottle was left from last year so enough could be processed for Leola's fall open house.  This will have to sit in this mixture for a week. 

We had a wonderful fall open house at Leola's.  The weather was perfect and the shop looked amazing.....as always....

Now I have to start thinking about Christmas because I really have nothing planned.  It comes so quickly in the retail world.  My sisters and I are taking another trip this fall to Door County, WI, and I'm hoping that I'll find both inspiration and product.  Can't wait!  Oh, and I did make a recent trip to Iowa and came back with 2 wonderful old sleds so guess that's a start.

Hope all of you have a wonderful week and with a little luck, we'll talk again soon.

Sisters in Kalona, Iowa.....

We've always loved this shop.  It sets in an old farmhouse (now 2) on highway 1 on the outskirts of Kalona, Iowa & not too far south of Iowa City.  It's an amazing, creative store that always inspires us and sends us home with both merchandise and ideas.  The pictures that I took this time seemed to be centered around their little glass house behind the big house that was made from old windows and doors and has a metal roof.  It is soooooo cool......I want one!

 I love a bottle tree.  It's hard to see this one but it was great setting out and in front of the old tree.

 This is a picture inside the front door......yes, it had electricity!

 Can't decide if these would be called chargers or placemats.  So cute under the old ironstone plates.

They must have just had a special event on the lawn.  These old Mason jars had candles and various other things in them.  So cute hanging from the clothesline.  Have a feeling they were hanging all over for the event.

 These were so cool hanging at the backdoor.....my battery candles at Leola's would be perfect in these jars.

 This was the view behind the shop.

 ....down the driveway.

We had such a good trip to Iowa but it wouldn't be complete without going to Barb Conner's shop in Fairfax, Sisters and The Rug Cottage in Kalona.

The heat is on.......

It is really summer around here......98 today and very dry.  Just going out to water is an ordeal.  Last summer was miserable and guess this one is a repeat.  Every time I feel like complaining, I think about all those who don't have an air-conditioned house to go into.  I know I'm so blessed but sometimes that "poor me" just creeps out.

My g'kids spend the summer in the pool (or a good part of it).  They're on the swim team at their neighborhood pool and love going every morning to practice.  They often return in the afternoon or evening......ahhhh summer!

Their next meet is on Thursday and since I missed their first one, I'm hoping it's not too hot to watch this one. 

Brenda worked today at Leola's so I'll be working on Wednesday.  I'm making a real effort to take some things in that I bought on our trip.  My goal was to concentrate on primitives and was able to find some great things.  Also wanted to find furniture pieces.  I found a great early side table with dropleafs that needs some waxing and a really primitive bench.  There's a small pine shelf with doors that hangs on the wall.  It wouldn't take much for me to keep it but promised myself I'd sell it.  I'll put it in Leola's for a couple of months and if it doesn't sell then I'll bring it home and take something out of the house.  So far, everything I tried that on, sold before I could bring it home (that's a good thing).

Wanted to show this house in Iowa that was in the little town where we stayed.  We thought this was the perfect "Pickers" house but none of us had the nerve to go to the door.  Since the Pickers are from Iowa, maybe someday they'll discover it.  They seemed very proud of all their "stuff".

Have a good Tuesday!

My niece told me I might have too much time on my hands if I'm taking pictures of my meals, but this was just too good to pass up.

Pesto is one of my favorite things about summer.  Since I didn't have spaghetti pasta  (which is what I usually use) I used some large shells.  So good!!!!  It's especially yummy with some roasted chicken added to it.

My other favorite thing about summer is fresh bruschetta.  I had my own homegrown tomatoes, green onions, garlic and basil.  This is Panera's asiago cheese bread toasted with olive oil and a little Parmesan cheese.  You should see my sweet Phoebe eat this....she loves it. 

My garden is so beautiful right now.  Even with the dry weather, it's looking so good.  The green beans are blooming as are the squash and cucumbers.  There are little peppers hanging and the herbs are going crazy.  My neighbor has given me zucchini and I've been making the zucchini chips that are on my Pinterest.  You just slice them really thin, put a little olive oil on them with salt & a little pepper and bake them until they're brown (I use a high temp).  Sometimes I don't let them get very brown but take them off the cookie sheet and put them on a paper towel and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Really watch them closely because they brown in a flash. This is definitely one way to get your kids to eat zucchini.

My sisters and I are going antiquing for a few days.  We're hitting our favorite haunts in Iowa and plan to stay in Bonaparte for a few days.

This is where we stay......Bonaparte B & B.  It was an old glove factory that they have made into a B & B and they take such good care of their guests.

Bonaparte's Retreat is the restaurant across the street.  It's a cute little Amish community where everything is home-owned.  Sits on the DesMoines River.

Anyway, as always, I'll take lots of pictures and hopefully, find lots of treasures.

Is this heaven or is it Iowa.....

Happy Monday morning! Have to go to work but wanted to post one more day of our trip to Iowa. This was our afternoon at Barb's (Simply Iowa) shop in Fairfax. Just driving up to her shop is a treat but when you walk in it's amazing. We thought we were in antiquer's heaven. There's no explaining it -- you have to see it for yourself. It is packed full & Barb is so good with her displays. It certainly made me re-think the way I do my space at Leola's. It made me realize I could put twice as much "stuff" in as I do. Check this out....

Here's Barb trying to hide behind a little piece of paper. She really is the best at what she does and it shows. While we were there, she had a constant stream of people and they were all from out-of-town.

Some of Judy's treasures.

We had such a good time in Barb's shop but left thinking we'd missed lots of good stuff. Guess we'll just have to go back. Thanks, Barb, for a fun afternoon.

Tuesday in Iowa.....

We're home from our Iowa trip and I have so many pictures. We love going to Iowa. We love the fact that we find amazing things for Leola's but we also love the people and the beautiful state. One of our favorite people was Polly http://pollyanns.blogspot.com/. Her shop, Polly Ann's, is in an old house in beautiful Mt. Vernon, Iowa. You can tell when you walk up the front that this isn't just another shop. She's very creative & her displays show it. We found lots of treasures and loved that she pulled her vintage Christmas out for us.

This is what you see when you step on her front porch.

This is Polly on her front porch. She also has a very excellent assistant, Bob, her dad. They were good enough to tell us about a great local restaurant where we had an amazing lunch of hamburgers and homemade french fries. We all noticed our waistbands were a little tighter when we got home.

This picture probably doesn't need any explanation.

Judy & Brenda at Bonaparte Inn.

We had such a good time but were all glad to get home and sleep in our own beds. While I was gone brother-in-law, Mike, got my house painted even though it rained almost all week but he's a fast painter. I'll take pictures soon. He also made me shutters for the front that I'll paint red. It was amazing pulling in my driveway & seeing a brown house.

It's cold & rainy in Iowa.

Here we are on the banks of the DesMoines River. It's rainy and cold but feels like fall. Did a little antiquing today in Bonaparte, Bentonsport, Kaseoqua (or something like that) & various other small towns. The car is filling up fast and we still have more stops ahead. We're having such a good time and lots of laughs.
This is the Bonaparte Inn where we're staying. Tonight we're the only guests and it's kind of spooky. The service here is wonderful & probably the main reason we keep coming back. We had appetizers & wine in front of the fireplace tonight & tomorrow morning they'll have coffee outside our room and breakfast in the dining room. It's great!

This is Bonaparte's Retreat where we had dinner this evening. We felt so wasteful because we all had to leave half of our meal. Why do they serve so much!!! But it was good.
Tomorrow we're heading north so we have to leave Bonaparte behind but we always return. Later.