My Helpers

Our dogs love to be outside, and they love for me to be there, too.  As we were hanging out the other day, I decided I needed a photo of my old Voss galvanized tub, just because it looked cool.  I bought this at a swap meet for vintage car parts. I think it was used to clean parts in a repair shop, but I use it as a planter.  Anyway, I got the camera and got down on the ground to get a better shot, and one of my "helpers" magically appeared to make sure the photo was extra special.

Not only did Jake pose, he grabbed a daylily leaf so he'd look especially cute.  Henry was just bored with the whole process.

And where was Georgia?  Asleep in the house, as usual. She sleeps under the covers, so no photo available.  Maybe the next time.

Optimal Floral Viewing

My bestie Lucy and I like to drive around seeking "optimal floral viewing."  I have a Pinterest board by that name, too.  Here's a bit of optimal floral viewing for you from my back yard.

I had hoped to have pics of my mom's beautiful hydrangeas, but I was using my iPhone and, being me, I took video instead of pics.  Maybe later!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My beautiful mother celebrated her 80th birthday on April 29.  You'd never guess it to look at her, and sadly, I didn't even get a birthday pic, but you can see her here with my dad on his birthday last October.  She's one of the kindest, most generous people I know, as well as funny, talented and BUSY. 

Mother has a thing for roosters so I made her this little 6x6 canvas, based on a card I saw on the Cherries Jubilee blog quite some time ago.  I knew it would be perfect for her.

I love the way it turned out, and she seemed to like it, too.  The rooster is from a vintage nursury rhyme book, the doily is from the 50s, and I made the flower from an old hat.  I'm not sure what that doodad is on top, but I liked the look of it.  The pointy top comes off and there's a small space inside. 

Here's the original Cherries Jubilee card photo from her blog.  So cute!

Pistol Annie's Vintage and Craft Show

I'm still woefully behind on blogging, but making an effort to catch up.  Next in line is the Pistol Annie's event last month in Perkins, OK.  I was contacted by the organizers via Etsy, and have to admit that I was hesitant about signing up.  I hadn't done a crafts show in many years - not since the late 80s or early 90s - and wasn't sure I wanted to go there again.  But...when I mentioned it to my friend Leann, she was interested and we somehow talked each other into it.  Ha!  Then our friend Jeanne decided to join us, and it was a done deal.

Since I was selling mostly vintage items and just a handful of crafts, I put my Etsy shop "on vacation" for the weekend and took some of those items to Pistol Annie's.  I did have to stock up, but was able to do a lot of that with things I already had on hand and after visiting just a few estate sales.

We had to borrow a canopy - an OU canopy no less, in decidedly Cowboy country, but no one seemed to mind.  The DH followed me to Perkins on Friday morning to help us set up, and then came back Saturday afternoon to help dismantle and cart things home.

The weather didn't really cooperate.  It was fairly nice on Friday, but with the threat of tornados looming we had to head home early as Perkins is a little over an hour's drive from home.  We did our best to secure everything, taking down the canopy and covering our tables and a couple of bins with a huge tarp.  It was all clamped down and seemed like it would withstand a lot.

Saturday morning, I arrived first to see the tarp in a heap on the ground, soaked and dirty table coverings, and water in one of my bins.  There was also a small pond in the center of our space.  The organizers helped us move to another spot, unfortunately available due to the total collapse and ruin of another vendors canopy.  It was extremely windy all day Saturday, and while we did have sales, things kept blowing over and it just wasn't pleasant.  With severe weather forcast for early evening, we called it quits around 4:00.

I have to add that the show was basically in a cow pasture, which was fine, especially because we had three "cow" dogs to keep us company.  This is Copper.  When he wasn't relaxing, he was mooching for food and at one point was spotted trotting across the field with someone's bag of lunch (they were able to rescue it before he did any damage.)

The organizers were wonderful and had the weather cooperated, it would have been an excellent show. I was still pleased with my sales, but after factoring in the gas for two vehicles to make two trips each, it wasn't very profitable. It was great to have all that time to visit with Leann and Jeanne and to do a bit of shopping with the other vendors, but if we do another show, it will most likely be an inside show and closer to home.

A huge THANK YOU to our friends who drove long distances to see us and to shop!  I got to see several of my besties that I haven't seen in weeks or months, and met some new friends, so that alone made it all worth it.