The beaten path

On my way to Arkansas Tuesday, I ran into a torrential rainstorm, just about the time I was rolling through Billings, Mo., a tiny town with a handful of pretty good flea markets. I always roll by and car-window-shop when I pass through town (which is fairly often on the way to my parents or to meet them halfway in Monett) and had just seen this bench on Friday. So, since it was raining and all, I had to stop and check on it. It rained really hard for quite a while and I found several things to come home with me, including the bench, which I have in my foyer hallway right now, but it might end up back in the dining room where I took the picture with the little cottage shelf I also bought at Another Darn Flea Market. Yes, it's called that and formerly had a holstein motif and was painted all down the side with black spots. I filled a few boxes of 50 cent black books there, too, so my bookcases are filling right up.

Next door at New Beginnings, I found the little chippy plant stand and the small statue. Something has broken off the front of it, and I think I will attach a saucer with hen and chicks or maybe a nest. The shutter I found on down the road. The black dog tail belongs to my loyal and curious Booker T.

I found the $1 silver platter and the polka dot apron in Billings, too. Before leaving Rogers the next day, I stopped at The Rose and found the shaving mirror, which I love and the little metal bird stand, as well as the chippy footboard.

It is really small, I guess twin but it seems smaller. I am thinking about cutting off the bottom legs and hanging it above a doorway as kind of a pediment. Or I might hang it as is in my laundry room. It is leaning against a corner shelf I found at The Other Place in Rogers, formerly Frisco Flea Market, that I rehabbed today.

One of the booths at The Rose had everything 75% off and I got the little creamer, hankie, dishes and glass for nothing. I think I'll keep the creamer and hankie but sell the other things in my booth. I have another little mirror like the one I bought for $1. I'd like to have several more to hang in a collage somewhere.

My sisters and I took my mom and dad out to Famous Dave's (yummy potato salad!) Tuesday night to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary. Then we shopped at Gap and Old Navy and I got Macauley several shirts and hoodies on clearance that he won't wear until fall. They are size 6/7 and seem impossibly big and make me sort of sad that he will be that grown up by then. My sisters and I went in Pier 1, and I was surprised to find several things I liked. I bought some curtains for Ryan's office but left the other things behind. I will have to check back though. I didn't know I liked that store for my style these days, but I should have known...my dish and glassware addiction.

I always have trouble falling asleep away from home so I read for quite a while and got really into Twilight. Even though it's not my normal kind of book, my teacher friends and my sister Lane all liked it and I decided to read it to see what all the fuss is about. I can see how the story pulls people (namely teenage girls, which I was long ago but still feel like in my head half the time) in. I plan to finish it tonight and move on to the second in the series. I read Confessions of a Shopaholic a couple of weeks ago, thinking I would read it and then see the movie but I haven't yet. Not my most intellectual or challenging reads, but a fun escape. Just right for Spring Break!