To My Followers--Google Friends is Ending, But You Can Follow with Linky!

You may have heard that Google is retiring Google Friend Connect; after March 1, 2012 many blogs will no longer support the Google Friend Connect community. You can still follow my blog though, through Linky, which is a new service that many bloggers are switching to in place of Google Friends.


To follow me via Linky Followers simply click "Follow Me" under the "Be a Follower" heading on the right side of my blog. If you've never used Linky Followers before it will prompt you to signup--don't worry, it's a free service.

Once you have access to Linky Followers you can browse other blogs by topic and even see when they were last updated, who owns it and begin following them all in one place!

It seems that as soon as we get used to something, it changes, and the best we can do is hold on for the ride :) I hope many of you will make the changeover and continue to follow my ramblings through Linky.

Life

It is a strange journey we take in this world;
often I wonder at its meaning.
There is joy--a birth, a love, a laugh.
There is excitement--a goal met, a victory won.
There is sadness--a loss, a grief, a sudden departure.
There is love--for child, parents, husband, lover.

Yet in the end, it is loss that rules,
for all must come to a certain end;
there is no happily ever after
after all, just a venturesome journey
toward a predictable end.

Still, is the journey all in vain
if the ending is known before we begin?
Would we, given the choice,
choose not to take the path
and end before we traveled on?

I think these thoughts reflecting
on the losses in my life, the grief
that came and lives on in my heart
with each and every one.
But then

There are the memories of voices and kisses,
triumphs and surprising victories
that make the struggle worth the while.
It is memories that sustain the heart
and in time, provide the balm for wounds.

Journey on, my friends. Gird your loins
for the future will bring certain sorrow.
Bare your heart too, because
with the pain there still is joy
in seeing younger faces stretch
toward the sun. They venture forth
and the path continues on.

More Booth Pictures

Finally, I have some time to post more pictures. We went to an auction yesterday and I've spent today cleaning up the damage. Lots of great stuff, but also lots of not-so-great things that are now boxed up for the donation place. But here are some pictures of the rest of my booth at the antique mall:

This is looking in from the aisle.

 

 

And another view from outside the booth. I want to hang some things on the gray shelf's end panel, but first I need to figure out what I want to have on it. Pictures? Posters? Something else?

This is what I call the "primitive" corner. The table is an old deal table, pretty rough but I've had it and used it for many years.

Here's another view of the same table, taken a day later. See any changes?

A couple things sold so I rearranged and added more.

 

I added this glassware Friday to the top of the gray shelves:

This old wicker chair holds linens for sale. 

A corner look--after adding a little more on Thursday. You can click on any photo to enlarge it, btw.

The back side of the white shelf holds books and vintage glassware and baskets. I think I can do better with this area for display. 

That's all for tonight's virtual tour!

Whew!

My camera is safe! What a relief!

I can't tell you how happy I was to find it, right where I left it in the booth at the antique mall. Thankfully I'd laid it down in an inconspicuous spot, but I like to think that anyone who visited would not have taken it anyway. My faith in human nature might be naive but it's been supported numerous times over the years by good people doing the right thing.

Right now it is buried in the truck under a load of boxes. We went to an auction today and my goodness did we find some good stuff. Photos will come later, after I unearth my camera.

Since we had to go back in search of my camera I took two more totes of things to add to the booth. It's certainly filling up nicely. I'll take more this weekend, I think--I want to visit on a Saturday to see how busy the place is on a weekend. I did notice a few more things were gone so that's good.

It was a full day, and I'm pretty tired. But I am happy and satisfied too. My camera is back with me, the truck is full of some amazing things, and I will have a fun day tomorrow sorting it all out and deciding what to put in the booth, what to list on eBay, what to store for later, and what to take to a donation center. Box lots can provide a lot of interesting and useful stuff that I might not want to keep, but that someone else can use. I'll also be busy listing on eBay because I need to earn back what I spent and that's a faster route than selling in the booth. But I promise to post the rest of the pictures, along with a few of our finds today.

Best find today: a late 1800's-early 1900's lamp that was buried in a box of linens. I don't think anyone else noticed it! It looks like it was a kerosene lamp that was later retrofitted to be electric. Two other lamps are favorites too--they are alabaster and I really like them. I need to learn about cleaning marble, though because they sure can use a cleaning.

More tomorrow after I totally destroy this house unpacking and sorting!

Vintage Thursday: A Peek at the Booth

Here's a look at some of my new booth at the antique mall. It's not a complete look because I left my camera behind. I am so worried that it will be gone when I go back tomorrow. I sure hope someone honest finds it and turns it in. I have loved this camera and will be very sad if it's gone.

As it turned out, the memory card got full as I was snapping photos so I changed it out and that is how I happen to have a few photos to show you even though the camera (and the bulk of my photos) is AWOL. So here's at least a peek at what it looks like.

This is Shelf Unit 1. I tried to arrange like with like as much as possible, keeping colored glass and white glass grouped--but the yellow honey pitcher had to go beside the Pfaltzgraf bee-themed pitcher and went okay with the flowered retro plates too. I don't like the color of these shelving units; we'd intended to paint them but the weather turned too cold for that so we opted to use them as they were. I'd like to replace these one day with white wood shelves. On the plus side, the shelves are adjustable and they have a baked-on enamel on steel finish that is pretty tough. Maybe I'll learn to live with them as they are.

Second shelf is green and clear glass alone with a little amber. There was some Capri dot glasses on this shelf that must have sold. I noticed several things were gone so that was good. This has some retro 70's glass, a Pyrex casserole, some English hobnail grill plates, some fan-shaped snack plates and some other odds and ends. We took another full tote over today and still have space to fill. I'd like more light on these shelves, another future project.

Lots of room on shelf 3! I do believe some things were missing here. As my friend Joy said, take pictures on each visit so you can see what's not there when you come back! I need to work on this shelf, and will bring more things to better stock it later this week, I hope. The English soup tureen and matching underplate is pretty nice; there's a large cobalt glass bowl not showing to good advantage here. The bottom shelf has mostly metal trays and tins, along with some Oriental-look items and that random basket that had so other place to go.

Shelf Unit 2: on the top is a set of wood nesting boxes (handpainted fruit designs on the lids), baskets, a HUGE beer stein and a tall glass Blenko vase, along with a set of 6 black and white checked woven placemats. This shelf is mainly kitchenware, and mostly 30's to 80's vintage. Green handled Coke glasses, a coffee grinder that works but is really for decoration I think, Hazel Atlas Ovide cream and sugar, a stovetop toaster, French mustard pot with a wooden spoon, a Pyrex bowl full of kitchen gadgets, a square mirror clock and a chrome clock, salt and peppers, egg cups, and a huge glass fish platter made in France, among other things.

Shelf 2 holds a small graniteware roaster, juice set, a metal bucket with red-checked napkin filled with kitchen gadgets, a beanpot and a few assorted items.

The bottom two shelves are still kitchen items, a lot of metal things, like stainless pots, icetrays, etc. Some nice syrup pitchers too.

Then there is the "lady" corner! Lots of pink and pretties here.

Hankies! I remember buying these for my mother when I was a girl--they were sheer, beautiful and useless really as a hankie. But so pretty! Back then they cost 59 or 69 cents; that was 50 years ago.

I used a garland of pearls as decoration in the booth, stringing it across and around this feminine area. The lighted lamp adds a soft glow through a flowered shade.

Aprons hang on wood ladders above the "primitive" table. I took more photos of this area but alas, they are on my camera, wherever it is :(  I hope it is in safekeeping and that I will be able to share more photos with you tomorrow. So far I have not covered half of the booth, so there is a lot more to show.

Send good thoughts to my camera and tell it to come home safely!

Linking to these friends today: A Vintage Green, Colorado Lady, Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures and A Coastal Charm. Check them out to see lots of great thrifting finds and vintage items!