To market

My new friend and neighbor across the street, Stacy, and I sneaked away this afternoon for pedicures and a trip to Charley's Place. Several new booths had been added, and while I only bought a small chippy mirror, there were several other things that caught my eye. This new booth (or new to me--I hadn't been over there in a while) had lots of fabulous things, mostly new as far as I could tell.

I love the big display piece...lots of garden, botanical, bird items...

I almost bought these zinc stands...love those. And I would love to have the tall, simple concrete fountain on my back patio. It was pretty expensive and I can only imagine what Ryan would say if I told him he had to help me haul that one in. But...love it.

Such a great chandelier. I didn't see a price so I'm not sure if it's for sale. We looked around for a while in other booths...

This wicker chair is really big, nice and deep and sturdy, and if I read the sign right was marked down to only $37.50. I can't think of anywhere I need it, but with different cushions, even a new paint color if desired...anyone out there looking for a great chair?

I took a picture of this cabinet the last time I was at Charley's. Still love it. It would fit great under my cubby display piece in the dining room.

This piece used to be in a booth at STD and I have long coveted it. NFS. The dreaded NFS/Display Only...Stacy came home with some great, really tall, rusty, wrought-iron candlesticks. She likes a rustic, almost lodge look, and has a huge new house to furnish. Neither of us bought much but I always leave the flea market inspired. The question is if I'm inspired enough to get under the house and clean out the storage space tomorrow. I'd like to have a big pile of junk on the porch for the DAV truck to pick up when they roll through on Tuesday. But I don't know if I'll have it in me to root around down there tomorrow. I'd rather scrapbook, so maybe the inspiration to do that will hit instead. I just love the feeling of Sunday night in the summertime...a whole week ahead with no real, pressing obligations...

I know her...

...in real life! The lovely and sweet Debra, pictured here at The Seedbox Open House this spring, is having a giveaway on her blog Common Ground. She has 500 some followers and her blog is big time, and I'm proud to say we live very near one another and I'm pleased to know her. She has the prettiest booth at one of my all-time favorite places, Spring Creek, and I enjoy reading about her home and her family on her blog.

She's giving away a copy of Carolyn Westbrook's new book. Like Debra, I love the book Carolyn Westbrook Home, and I'd love to have some of the Oatmeal bedding from her product line on her website. Think you could throw one of those duvets or coverlets in, Debra? I'll need the shams, too. My blog is not big time and I've never learned how to do links (perhaps I'll put that on my Lazy Days of Summer To Do List) but instructions to enter the giveaway are at http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/. If I win, maybe she'll just drive over and deliver it in person?

Our new favorite space

We have this really great screened-in porch just off two wide sliding doors from our living room that until this past spring was no more than a landing spot for cast-off furniture and accessories and lots of crunchy leaves and blown-in dust. I finally settled on what I wanted to do with the space, though, and now it's one of our favorite places to sit after dinner or when Ryan gets home from work. It's so nice to prop our feet together on the shared ottoman and just look at each other and talk about the day. Or the next one. Or one fifty years from now. The swivel-rocker chairs are from the Country Living Collection at Sears. The rug is from Ballard Designs. I ordered 5 rugs from them recently and they really finished off several spaces in the house. This chocolate brown one is my favorite of all of them. Most everything else besides the chairs and the rug I already had. The view through the windows is of the woods behind our house and the little creek below. I had the trees trimmed up in early May and we're still not used to the cleaned up look. Someday I hope to do much more to the backyard and the treeline.

Despite a lack of any real gardening skills, I have had some success with ferns on this back side of my house. I bought several at Lowe's when they had them on a great sale and so far they're thriving in this porch and the deck just outside it. The green shutter, which I've had for quite a while, hides the gas stove/fireplace that hasn't always worked right but we hope will cooperate this fall. I got the long gray bench and the green wooden finials on my last junking trip in Ozark with Barb (much too long ago--we need to go again soon).

I've also had this white table for a long time, one of my favorite purchases from The Seedbox. It's actually an old chick incubator. The front flap folds down and there are openings and pipes on one side. The lamp is from one of my other favorite people/places, Colleene's. I'm missing her little shop since she closed down and hoping she does another sale out at her barn this summer or fall.

Colleene gave me a great deal on this twig piece too, a baker's rack maybe. I've thought about moving it outside to use as a potting bench, but for now it holds a few odds and ends that match the gardening, brown/green scheme.

This green table is one of my favorite things, and I can't remember where I got it. I usually remember where I get everything. The big iron porch post piece behind it reminds me of my Nanny and Papaw's house in Muskogee. Their little porch had some similar. The candle lantern was a Mother's Day gift from my sweet mother-in-law this year.

I traded Colleene work hours for this old grain bin several years ago. I love the weathered honey color of the wood and it's great for stashing extra decor or, shhh--sometimes presents.

So many people who have visited our house said they'd "just live out in this room" if it were theirs, but before I got the chairs and cleaned it up, we never went out there. Now I like to sit with a magazine or a book, maybe even doze off for a bit on a sleepy afternoon, or just look through the glass from the couch inside. It's just a nice place to be and I feel lucky to have it.

ArkanSAWS

Macauley and I made it back from visiting my parents at camp in ArkanSAWs (Macauley's pronunciation--I haven't tried too hard to correct him on it) last night. He had a blast driving his truck around and helping out with lots of odd jobs at the camp.

He usually follows my dad around everywhere, or the two college-aged boys that work for him, but his favorite place to help out is the cafeteria, where he helps my mom prepare and serve food, runs the industrial dishwasher or turns discarded food boxes into all sorts of pretend items, this time a car and a vending machine. He got in only a little pool time this trip, but he did go down the slide into the 6 ft. end all by himself. He's made so much progress on his swimming since last summer, another thing about him that we kind of just let happen on its own, like so many other things he's figured out growing up.

He got a lot of comments on his truck, which was what he was hoping for. I did a little antiquing, which is what I was hoping for...I got a couple of little drawers and a silver creamer at The Rose and wished I could have made it to their sister store The Rose Too before closing time.

My mom took me to this cute place in nearby Centerton, Arkansas, and I wish we'd had more time to dig around. Lots of good stuff.

I didn't buy this cute little card table set but I kind of wish I had. It would fit in perfectly at my house if I wanted extra seating for a party or something.

I did buy this tray, maybe a printers tray, with the numbers.

The shop also had lots of little bins full of Scrabble letters and printers blocks and I rooted around in those forever. I brought home a few #3s and these sweet sentiments:

For a possible scrapbook layout...

and for Macauley's room...

My Sunshine came home with a $10 bill from Papa, for all the hard work he put in while we were there, which he spent on this fine musical masterpiece on our grocery run today. He's already asking when we can go back to Arkansaws.

Check.

I've already checked a few things off my non-urgent summer to-do list, and that feels good. I finished up all the final grades for the online class I taught so no more teacher-work for a couple of months. We've been meaning to start running, and we did last night. All 3 of us. 4 of us counting Booker. We took a family jog down the back trail and came home with very muddy feet. It's probably only a mile but we all made it and it's a start. My original goal going into summer was to get up when Ryan gets up for work (still sleeping in over an hour past my normal get up time) and go run and start my day. So far that one hasn't panned out. I didn't even hear him get up and leave this morning. Totally snoozing. When I sleep late, I stay up late, usually reading with the light on in bed. Trying to break that cycle before it gets too out of hand and drives Ryan crazy...

In the attempt to complete even one small organizational task every day or so, I managed to clean out the "junk drawer" yesterday. Does every family have one of these? This is the after, by the way. Still junky but the drawer opens all the way now and I might be able to locate a tape measure. Or two! We recently had custom closets installed and that has changed life around here for the better, too. I'll have to post those. Mine is fabulous.

One thing Macauley has wanted to do forEVER is take his Power Wheels to camp. We've said all along it wouldn't fit in my 4Runner, and I would still maintain that's mostly true. It's crammed in there and the seating is not ideal, but it's in and we're going to camp to see my parents today. I think Macauley has visions of cruising the Ford down to the cafeteria while all the campers stop and stare in awe and envy. We'll see. We're going to head down in a bit, stop at McAlister's in Republic for lunch (I'm hooked on their summer salad, the Savannah Chopped Salad with dried cranberries, almonds and gorgonzola cheese...not to mention the sweet tea) and maybe a little pass through the shops in Billings if we feel like it. Booker will be riding shotgun.

Making the cut?

Just putting this picture here to contemplate a shorter do at my hair appointment next week. Long hair is a comfort zone for me but my hair is often frizzy and usually pulled up, so maybe I could do better. This could be a safe middle ground. And I always was on Team LC.

I know why I need this t-shirt

I found this shirt on a charitable website called http://www.outofprintclothing.com/ that features tees with famous book covers and donates a book through Books for Africa to communities in need for every shirt sold. This one happens to feature one of my all-time favorite books and authors. I first read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings when I was a teenager and I've read it a few more times since. Might have to put in on the summer reading list I'm working on. One of the best chapters is about Maya's breakthrough as a young girl brought about by the kindness of a teacher. Maya was sexually traumatized as a girl and didn't speak for several years after, only breaking her silence when a beautiful and kind teacher read to her. Some other memorable words from the novel:

"See, you don't have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking." (Ch. 36)

"Ritie, don't worry 'cause you ain't pretty...You smart. I swear to God, I rather you have a good mind than a cute behind." (Ch. 10)

Maya also wrote a poem of the same name, the lines of which have always stuck with me, made me think about things I don't know about, things I once longed for, whether my wings are clipped or not. The refrain:

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Cloudy skies

To see the Summer Sky

is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie--

True Poems flee.

~Emily Dickinson

The view from our front porch this cloudy summer morning...