You know that moment when it dawns on you just how perfect that thing is that you decided not to buy even though you knew it was really good and you should?  I mean it was really perfect, but you passed it up because you just couldn't put your finger on why it was perfect so you left it in the store?  I mean that sort of one-of-a-kind-thing in the thrift store that you know is now gone, long gone because someone else got it?  Ugh.  It was a rustic medium sized drum shaped faded yellow I've-never-seen-another-like-it woven basket, for $30.  Thirty Dollars.  I collect interesting, functional baskets.  And I passed it up.  Oh DARN!

That was the weekend before last, and this past weekend as I was organizing the pantry-laundry shelving that my Hero had just installed, and deciding how to use some of my growing collection of vintage containers, I finally knew where that basket would be perfect.  Right there on the shelf.  Darn.

But the story doesn't end there.
When I told my Hero how I regretted not bringing that yellow basket home, his immediate response was, "Okay, let's go back and get it."  Do you see why he's my Hero?  Now, putting this into perspective, it was Sunday afternoon and going to get that basket, which I was fairly certain was no longer for sale, meant an almost hour long drive down I-95 in crazy weekend traffic through downtown Baltimore to the warehouse district. And he was absolutely willing to take me. Hero.

Allowing sanity to prevail, and feeling certain that my perfect basket was now residing in another lucky, and smarter, person's home, I offered an alternative. We live within minutes of a sweet little waterfront town named Havre de Grace that is home to several of our favorite antique shops.

In the back corner of one shop, buried under several pieces of kitchenware, we found this clam basket. We had been looking for one at a good price, and here it was. Happiness.

Another stop was an old fishing cannery turned antique mecca. A bit of prowling through the two floors offered up four vintage glass insulators.  We have a rather cool project in mind to use them for down the road.

Plus an old white column that I don’t have a photo of because it is now in the spidery garage, but we had seen it the last time we were at the shop and it still intrigued us. There is real craftsmanship in how it was made and though we still don't quite know what to do with it, this time we listened to our hearts and brought it home with us.

And my favorite find, even better than the yellow basket, is this. Do you know what it is?  I swear, it was sooooo hard not to do a happy-dance right there in the store when I found it. And now this little chicken feeder is all mine.  Now, admittedly, my Hero did think I was a bit crazy being so excited about a rusty little old metal trough...

Until I showed him what a lovely table centerpiece it makes.

Okay, I have to be honest here.  This was not my idea. I saw it at one of the shops at Old Lucketts Store and fell in love.  And now I have one too.  Joy.

Anyway, that's how my Hero turned my "oh darn" moment into a very special Sunday afternoon.  Oh, and he even took me out to dinner by the water before heading home. Bliss.

Hugs to all,

Cindy

A little over three months ago, while looking for information on chalk paint, I stumbled on a blog named Miss Mustard Seed written by a wonderful woman named Marian.  And I was hooked.  So many blogs, so little time, offering so much information, fun, and friendship.  I had heard about on-line communities, but just never got it.  Now I do.  And I want to join in. 

With encouragement from my Hero, I began pulling together ideas on what I could share. As a lifelong decorator ( I truly believe the first piece of furniture I ever moved was my crib ), with a creative can-do spirit, and a frugal-to-the-bone temperament and a new(ish) relationship I felt fairly confident that I had some things to bring to the table.  I also honestly want to hear back from others, the sharing of your ideas and opinions and comments.  Conversations.

What I am not good at is this computer stuff.  After writing a few pieces to launch my blog with, I ground to a halt trying to figure out what next.  What am I missing that needs to be done.  Writing isn’t my problem, how my blog functions is.  There are so many fantastic blogs, so polished, with so much to offer and so well done; I was, and am, totally overwhelmed. 

Then, after a week on the web with “0” comments, which honestly did not surprise me, I was a little concerned that I had missed something important.  And so I went back in and reset some things and am crossing my fingers that this time I have it set up right.  If, by chance, you did try to leave a comment and couldn’t, I do very sincerely apologize.   Please, please try again.

So, after all this rambling, what do you think?  Am I crazy?  Keep going?  I think so.  It’s not in me to give up easily on something I’ve committed to.  But I could really use your thoughts and help on what to do and, or, how to do things better. 

Thank you for hanging in there with me through the rambles.  I hope to hear from you!

Cindy

I've always loved birds. I love birds because they are beautiful, and their antics are a
great source of amusement for me, my Hero, and the Kitty Boys.  Especially the bath
time free-for-all. But mostly I love them because they eat spiders. Lots of them.  And
anyone who knows me at all knows that I am hugely freaked out by spiders. 

Even before we moved in the list of projects had grown to mind boggling proportions.   We had to prioritize the immediate concerns – the main support beam under the house had to be reinforced, a sump-pump and waterproofing were needed in the crawlspace, and we had to figure out how to install central air and heat where there was no duct work already in place.  In the end, though, it was pretty easy to see what had to come first.

The large single pane windows original to the house were almost all cracked and painted thoroughly shut.  For safety and energy efficiency they had to be replaced.  Fortunately we found a company on Angie’s List that could provide quality windows that looked remarkably like the originals. One day of noise and mess and DONE!    

Removing old windows and the installation of new ones isn’t exactly exciting or blog-worthy helpful, but it was necessary.  Also necessary, and much more creative and fun, was making curtains for the front room.

We knew when we looked at her that the little house had been flooded the winter before - from
the 2nd floor bath down. I didn't realize how extensive the damage had been until the day I opened
the door to a repairman and he said, "Wow! This place looks great!"  "So, you've been here before?"
"Yes, but last time there weren't any floors."  Ahhhhhh, that explains a lot. 

Where most of the first floor that I posted about last time looked all shiny and new, the upstairs
was much more in keeping with a 90-something year old home.