The moral of the story

It has been a full week of gift swapping and buying. Try to stay with me on this story because I may ramble.

It started on Monday when I took a day off from work and went to visit Doris the "Tea Pot Lady", that is what she calls herself. She is the woman that Dona and I met who has the collection of over 400 tea pots. I have kept in contact with Doris since we first met, I had emailed her photos of the tea pots that I picked up because I wanted to know more about them. She had never seen anything like the Pyrex tea pot. So on Monday I went to visit her and swap tea pots and other finds. I came home with these.



I also came home with this crib that was in her garage and if I didn't take it she was going to throw it out in the trash. Oh no, I couldn't have that. My family thinks I'm nuts for bringing home a crib but that's another story. I know I will need the crib someday, not for babies, but for my business.



I stopped at a consignment shop thrift store called "The Women's Exchange" I fell in love with this adorable little store. The ladies working there are volunteers and they were so nice and personable I wanted to stay all afternoon, but I had other things to do so I took their card and I know I will go back when I have more time. If I could work it out, I would even volunteer there, I liked it that much. But anyway, they had a small white chest of drawers full of their linens for sale. I remember making a mental note that I would like to do the same thing if I had a small white chest of drawers.

What do you think I found on Tuesday?? A small white chest of drawers. Just a coincidence? Maybe...maybe not.



On Thursday, in conversation with Carol from work, she mentions that she collects pewter. She recently bought an old house from the late 1800's and displays her pewter on her fireplace mantels. It just so happens that I have a full tub of pewter that for some reason I didn't bring the the flea market. I knew I had it, I just felt that I shouldn't sell it quite yet. Just a coincidence? Maybe...maybe not.

On Friday I brought in the tub of pewter for Carol to look through. As Carol is digging through the tub, Michele stops and wants to look too. So I sold enough pewter to pay for the chest of drawers. Just a coincidence? Maybe...maybe not.

Friday after work, Dona and I go to 2 barn sales that had started on Friday and accommodated my working hours. It was so thoughtful of them. As we were leaving one of the barn sales we are walking through the grass and I commented that there were all of these baby red maple trees growing under the mother tree. I say to Dona, I would love to have a Japanese maple tree.

On Saturday, there are like 100 yard sales listed in the paper. I am not exaggerating. There was one neighborhood sale that had 22 families alone. So anyway, guess what this woman has for sale??? A Japanese maple tree. I almost couldn't believe it. She had 2 potted trees. I took the bigger of the two. For only $10. Just a coincidence? Maybe...maybe not.



We also stopped at a sale where the man was cleaning out his grandmother's items that had been in storage for years. I didn't want to do it, but look what I bought. More tea pots.




I did manage to find something else besides tea pots, like more milk glass.

I remember at one time saying I had no intentions of starting a tea pot collection.

These coincidences happen more often than you would believe. Actually almost every week. It's almost spooky. I will think of something that I want or need and then I find it. Sometimes I tell Dona, what I am looking for and ask her to keep an eye out for me and she does the same with me. This happens to her too. She had just said about a week before that she wanted a wrought iron patio set for her patio. So what happens? She finds a whole set being thrown away. Free. I don't know if this is a common thing for everyone else. Let me know if this happens to you too.

I read once that our present thoughts are our future unrealized.

I do have my secret and then not so secret wishes. I think we all do. What I most wish for is that I don't ever take these gifts for granted and that no matter where my life takes me, that I will be ready, willing, and able to enjoy the ride.

The moral(s) of the story...be careful what you wish for because it may come true and never, and I mean never say never.

Spring redecorating

It's Spring redecorating time. Most people Spring clean, I redecorate for Spring. I clean along the way but redecorating is much more fun. It's time to lighten up, declutter, and pare down.

Here are a few of the things that I bought over the past two weeks. The week before the flea market I found all of this blue willow. I had full intentions of calling my neighbor who collects blue willow and ask her if she was interested. For some reason I couldn't bring myself to call her. I wasn't ready to give it up. You know I have trouble letting go. In the spur of the moment I decided to keep it, and I brought almost all of my toleware to the sale instead.

I have gathered together all of my blue and white and now they have a place of their own. My den "I call it my office " now feels right. It's a very small room. It was orginally an outside porch way back when. I would like to make this my room with no men allowed, but that won't happen. There's a TV in this room. Where there is a TV there is a man sitting in front of it.

I wish the TV would break.

For now, I have my chair.

Memories for Sale

Who would have guessed?

The weather cooperated, the shoppers showed up ready to search for treasures. Dona and I are thankful that they chose to search with us. We both had a successful day.

I brought a selection of everything I had and I have acquired many things. But I only buy what I like and hope that others like the same things. I even sold the picture frame that I use for my advertising. Advertising was no extra charge. The woman that wanted to buy the frame had family photos that she needed to frame. She said her daughter has been bugging her to display the family photos and she didn't have enough frames. This one frame meant a great deal to her and I felt that. You might think that the frame was made of gold.

Then it occurred to me...I discovered something about myself and why to me, this business is more than just about making money. Making money is nice, but when I see the faces of people when they buy something from me and they are so happy almost like a wish of theirs came true, that is priceless. I see something in their eyes that tells me that what they just found is more than just a set of bowls, a flower pot, a plate, or whatever. I see how they pick it up, hold it, almost caress it, something sparks in their memories, they are transported to another place and time, for those few seconds, if I'm attentive, if I can catch that moment, I can make a connection with them. I know that item means more to them than it does to me and it's important that the finds that I have gathered go to the right owner. I shouldn't really care, but I do. I have felt this from the beginning that I am rescuing the unwanted things and that I am only a caretaker until the right owner is found. The people that I buy my finds from do not want them for whatever reason and it's not any fault of their own. Alot of the times I get my finds, because a loved one has died, or gone into a nursing home, and the family is burdened with all of these possessions that they cannot deal with. Or people are moving, leaving one life behind and wanting to start anew. Some people are strapped for money and need the cash.

But you know when I first find that treasure at the bottom of a box underneath a table, in the pile stored in the basement, or in the corner of a dark dirty garage, I know my eyes light up and something sparks my memories. It is a circle of memories that is passed from one owner to another. I have enjoyed each and every find that I own or have owned and I hope the new owners enjoy them too.

I am going to rest and regroup and search for more treasures and memories...until the next sale.

You are Invited

You are cordially invited to attend

the Magnolia Street Party

at the Delaware County Community College Flea Market

on Sunday, April 13th.

I have a special gift waiting just for you. All you need to do is stop by and say that you are "here for the Magnolia Street Party".

So all of you local bloggers, I hope to meet you. And to all of you not so local bloggers, I will take photos to share. Maybe next time you can come.

Letting go.

I have a hard time letting go. I have to purge, edit, clear space, just plain get rid of things. I have been going through the nooks and crannies in my home, gathering up those precious items that I bought, but no longer have room for, to sell at the flea market. My first flea of the year is coming up next Sunday. Of course no matter how organized I am, it will still be a week of long nights sorting, pricing and packing. At last count I have 8 plastic tubs of merchandise. It's alot of work, but I am really looking forward to the Delaware County Community College Flea Market on April 13th. Dona and I are going to share a space again this year. I hope we have room for everything. I will also be experimenting with displaying and merchandising in creative ways. This is in preparation of a larger and greater plan, but that is for another day. I must take one sale at a time.

I went through my dining room and removed all miscellaneous dishes, candle holders, and trays. Now doesn't this look organized?

How long do you think I can keep it looking like this?

Now this is in total contrast to my red cupboard. I display all of my white items here. I have milkglass, iron stone, Italian ceramics, and there is even a white metal pitcher stuck in there somewhere. I just don't know when to quit. If it's white, I buy it.

Sometimes I think I should just close the doors.

Here is an example of two items that I will have for sale next Sunday. I have no room for them, although I think they are adorable. I bought these two vases at two different sales and I knew that they had something in common. They are made in Portugal. I have never seen any vase quite like it. There are holes in the top to hold the flowers. How cute is the iron.

The colors are just perfect for a Spring table.

I just bought these cups and saucers, but I'm afraid that I will have to let them go also. I will try to convince myself that I have a good reason for keeping them. Like I'm going to find cups to match the saucers and saucers to match the cups. Then I'm going to have a tea party, invite all of my friends, and we'll have a grand time. Like that will really happen. But you know, I might find saucers to match the cups and cups to match the saucers. That's the whole point of it, isn't it? So I better keep them...just in case. I have lots of room in my dining room, I'll put them there.