I really wanted to go.......

My son has embarked on his journey through Central America WITHOUT ME!

I really don't know why a 24 year old guy wouldn't want his mother to tag along on his 3 week adventure!!! What's up with that? So what if this particular Mom is a paranoid flyer....... afraid to eat or drink anything while traveling for fear of getting ill......thinks she would contract a tropical disease with every mosquito bite......would suspiciously eye every local male as a bandito who would kidnap and ransom unsuspecting Americans.....shudders at the thought of staying in super cheap hotels....etc.... etc.....(I'm really not that bad......um...well maybe a little)

OK, so he is a really SMART kid to leave his mom behind!



But I can still travel with him via texts (if there is a signal), a few phone calls, and very tiny pictures from his camera phone (he travels so light--no camera), and I must resort to view stock photos from the internet of the places he has been and is going, until he returns home and downloads all his phone pics. I follow him on google maps, and read about all the interesting places he will see.......



He began his journey in Belize and did lots of diving......then trekked into the jungle to wander around in caves.....then explored Mayan ruins.....then traveled via bus to Flores in Guatemala to see the ruins of Tikal......now he is headed to Antigua, and I do not know where else....then eventually on to Honduras to dive some more on Roatan.....



Yes, I am pretty nervous for his safety traveling alone, and I worry a lot, but I know he is having the adventure of a lifetime, and I trust his care to God....as I have every day of his life.

AND.......I have made him promise to take me on the next trip!!! (Yeah, right)

July show photos......

Lakewood show is underway, and we're thankful for our sales today---the summer months are unpredictable, so we never know what to expect.

These corbels sold in advance, and I already regret not keeping them! What was I thinking? Those would have been killer on my mantle....this business can really be torture!!


Martha's cool punch cups on polka dot ribbon really made the gazebo area shine!! They just didn't photograph very well......but her French design ice cream table set looks so cute....


The corbel mirror will soon reside in a General's home (he's currently in Afganistan, but retiring soon)! I'm very proud.......and thankful for the technology of the camera phone!

I had this junk garden at the last show, and loved how the Sedum bloomed right in time for this show!

I'm loving this green concrete piece of Martha's..........oh the torture!

Last minute projects for the Lakewood show.......

I've been pondering on these dresser mirror frames for so long......but I finally decided to stick with the chalkboard use, even though it isn't very original! It's just such a hot seller, and since I don't have one yet for myself, if it doesn't sell-- I'll just keep it!!


With our Lakewood Antique show starting Friday, I only had a couple of hours today to get a few projects done, and this lamp collage plant stand was one of them. I was just having a little chippy/rusty fun--can't go too long without dismantling some old lamps!!

Don't forget to stop by the show this weekend and say HI!

50 Best Blogs nomination......

What fun!........I'm excited and honored to be chosen as one of the "50 Best Blogs For The Avid Antiquer" at Photography Colleges! I'm thrilled to be among such great company! I have no idea how my blog got picked, and, just like when Google picked me for "Blogs of Note" earlier this year, I didn't realize it until friends told me! (I wondered why suddenly I was getting 500 visits a day from all over the world!) Anyway, I'm a grateful blogger......

Corbel Madness.......

I FINALLY got another one of these corbel mirrors done--about a year after I made the first one (and promised someone that I would make them one.....I'll never do that again-sorry Jody!).

When I put the first one in the show, I had--no joking--about 20 people that seriously wanted one (at 265.00 a pop no less) so I thought I could find more of them, or 4 matching ones....which was my first mistake. It is extremely hard to find 4 matching antique corbels! And of course the expense is staggering--4 of these babies will cost you between 160.00 to 260.00 for the set, and that doesn't include your hardware, mirrors, and time.

Around that same time I did find more of this style, but when I got them home they were slightly different sizes, and wouldn't work. Anyway, I decided to have a friend cut some from 2" lumber, thinking how much cheaper they would be.....but discovered it took an enormous amount of time to cut out, file and sand the imperfections out so they would look old, and then comes the problem of doing some sort of paint finish (that would never come close to the patina of the originals)---all of which drives the price high because by then you have 10 hours of work in them!!

So I lost interest, and these got pushed aside, until recently.......

.....I was shopping in Monroe at HODGE PODGE, and was so surprised to see that Wanda had 4 more of my non-matching corbels, and she kindly let me bring in mine to compare on the chance they might match hers, to make 2 sets, and they actually did!!! So I'm back in corbel mirror production......

I secure the backs with a nice sturdy frame if I have one that fits, it is easier to use that as a brace, but brackets and wood strips work too. Below is one of the ones that I had cut....it had to be pieced because of the wood widths available.....

Below is a view of an old and new one (I made a smaller template to fit the available wood widths).....I'll put together the other vintage set first, then attempt to do the new ones with some sort of comparable vintage finish (I hate doing the finishes--I once built a great big 2 door jelly cupboard, which took a long time, but then I spent days--probably weeks-- attempting to paint and antique it---- I must have tried 10 different finishes until I got an authentic chippy look on it, and then I needed to get about 1000.00 for it to cover my time and expense! Which didn't happen by the way--shoulda kept it!) If the vintage-look finish doesn't turn out on the new ones, I'll do them chippy black or ???

In the midst of summer doldrums........

.....I need a little inspirational wind to fill my sails, and off I'll go.....

Between recovering from a bad virus and summer vacation fun with Kayla, I have totally neglected my work and blog! But with the reality of upcoming shows, and exciting new ventures on my doorstep----it's time to get this boat moving!

Feeling almost normal again, I managed to get in some junkin' this week, and of course it's all about the architectural!

I also used up some of my junk-on-hand to make more of the teapot wall planters that I have done previously. I absolutely hate to work on stuff I have already done before and prefer to work on new ideas, but I had lots of requests for these, and I needed an easy jump-start project......so this was it.



These are pretty fast and fun to make.........I liked this one the best.......

I hope I can keep things moving and get lots more done......but my mind keeps wandering to visions of biking, snorkeling, traveling, and swinging in a hammock under a palm tree! (My son is going to Central America next week for a 3 week diving vacation, and I am soooo jealous!)

It might be harder than I thought to get out of these doldrums after all.......

The thrift experiment......

On the trip down to FL to visit my Mom, I always break up the tedious drive with backroads and junkin. Well, this time we (Martha came with me--she is the queen of thrifty shoppers) decided to stick to thrift stores and only buy things we can get "dirt cheap"! Everything in these pictures cost from .25 cents to a few dollars --with a couple of exceptions.

The problem was that it soon became evident that even in the middle of NOWHERE the thrift stores now think they can charge HUGE prices for everything!!! This blows my mind!

So we checked out some antique stores too, and that's where I found this mother load of old hardware in the below pic. The nice man who owns the shop invited us down to his basement filled with treasures (someday we'll go missing) where we spent the next hour blissfully rummaging around. I LOVE vintage hardware, and I came away with a big box of it for very little money. I'm imagining all sorts of collage projects using these treasures....

Below is the other junk (I passed up tons of great stuff that was not in my "dirt cheap" price range) that I got only because I had a definite plan for all of it, and it cost very little--some will be made into the tin flowers I took orders for at the last show--and some will go into the junk gardens. (I bought the wood pieces because they were .50 cents)


(I have no idea why I liked this photo so much, but it gives me an idea for a future project.....)

SO, while it seems everyone else finds great stuff in thrift stores, I can't say that I do----I find better stuff these days in antique shops in out of the way places--they seem to have given up charging high prices, and are just dumping stuff because of the economy---of course there are always those that charge too much, and seem OK with never selling anything in their museums!

A little dereliction addiction........

......'cuz I can't drive by these treasures on the backroads without taking pics of the interesting old architecture.......


These homes were somewhere in middle Georgia --west of I-75. You can pick just about any backroad from Atlanta southward and find awesome architecture. There are more derelict places than restored ones, but of course I prefer them with the artistic effects of weather, nature and time.......

I always try to stop in Lake City, FL to wander around the town (try the drugstore for some great food) and backroads--it is an unusual place with friendly people and interesting dereliction---this warehouse (?) on the tracks looks like an abandoned movie set.

Sarasota.....untouched by oil.....so far........

This was a bittersweet trip home for me. I was apprehensive about the condition of the water and beach on my first day out, but I was thrilled to discover it was still clean.....so far.

I spent every moment I could there, and ironically, I have never seen the water as clear as it was this week, and it was even cool for swimming, which surprised me. It seemed to be glowing in defiance of the approaching destruction, but will it be able to survive all that oil, and the toxic dispersants the idiots are being allowed to spray on it out there?

I really couldn't get enough of this scene.......and I hated to leave, wondering if it will be safe to swim whenever I get back.
(There is a porpoise in the top left hand corner of the above picture----he was out a little far to see well in the photograph)

G'bye beach.....I'll never take you for granted again!


I love the bayfront marina area.....I used to work here in the summer during college, and it always brings back fun memories of my friends who lived on boats, and the interesting people I met from around the world who would moor off and row up for provisions.

There are lots of old Mediterranean style homes here......and the Banyan trees are so cool!

We had lunch here on the pier at the northern point of Anna Maria Island, and the water was so clear you could watch the fish swimming around......


This homeowner on the island made a cute dinner plate border around her bungalow!

Sunset overlooking Lemon Bay in Englewood at the fishing hole--there was a cool breeze and the mullet were jumping in the water........so far...so good.