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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Gettin' the Goods



Yesterday was such a good day for my vintage soul! I got out poking around a little after being home bound for awhile. I didn't have to go far, because I stopped into my own shop first and found a new merchant, Vestige Goods, had been installed while I was gone. She's got great stuff!




But there's always great stuff at Vintage Market & Design! (Makes it a little tricky to operate out of there.)



Vestige Goods had these fabulous olive buckets. I haven't seen them in Albuquerque before, and thought I'd have to go to Texas or California for one. We're crazy for it!




I found this coffee pot a little while back at another market. I"m sure loving the rustic stuff lately!





Edward of Vintage Market & Design produces these gorgeous cards. I can't help but buy a few every time I come in.




 I got these for graduation and birthdays. I love their classic vintage vibe and that they're not too frou frou. It can be pretty limiting finding cards for men. Ya know what I mean?




There are also these delicious flavors of soap in the shop.




Edward designed the packaging. Each one different, but all of the elements he uses just speak to me and say, buy, buy, buy! Haha. (So I do.) Aren't they beautiful? They smell so heavenly!














I found the humongous antique basket at one of my haunts yesterday too. Thrilled beyond words. There's no faking that patina!




Now I have to tell you that I have a thing for vintage wicker planters too, and once in a while I find them with their original finish. I've let too many of them go, so I'm going to try to hang onto this one for awhile. It just speaks everything I'm always saying to myself these days!












Vestige Goods also carries Nina Hartmann and Jeanne d'Arc Magazine!!!! I had waffled on buying Vintage by Nina until seeing it in person. Ghaaaaah! Love it!


















It's going to be very hard to top that for awhile! I wish I could get to some of the great markets that are happening all over the country/world this weekend, but this is going to have to do it for me!
 Ya'll have fun!

Jacqueline




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Monday, May 27, 2013

Foolin' With the Dining Room



My bouquet of garden roses is pretty much finished, but the petals are still giving off a wonderful scent. I have them in the center of the dining room table for now.





There's quite a different feel to this room since we sent this old family table home with the oldest son at the end of the reunion. I've done a lot of blog posts from here, and I wanted to show the difference in scale from these earlier photos of the old table. (It's dark oak like the sideboard, refinished and looks like new, but I always found the dark finish too heavy for this small dining room and kept it covered. I like a covered table anyway.)





I've used its surface more for projects than anything else in recent years. It's shown here with one of its extra leaves in it. There has never really been space to extend it entirely in this room. (Although we've done that too sometimes.)





There has always been a bench at the end in front of the window, and for a few months (maybe longer--I lose track) we have been using metal garden chairs around it too. They have worked to give more of a lift to this room and are remarkably comfortable with their recovered padded seats.






It's been the center of everything for thirty six years!




We brought in this matching glass topped garden table to take its place for now. Maybe temporary, maybe not. Mr. Cottage likes it a lot. The size is a lot more cozy for just two people. And I've always loved the look of garden style indoors. At least in summer!









I'm always deluding myself that I'm paring things down, and going for a more clean and spacious look, but the first thing I did was pile layers of linens on the new surface! (This quilted runner from France needs a few more washings to soften it.) 





I'm enjoying a recent find in here too. I loved all the curves on this antique chair, and I love the built in "handle" on these types of chairs too. Now I have four of them, all different.




I've parked a small wicker table in front of the window (out from storage for the recent wedding). The man of the house is thinking it's a great spot for morning coffee, and I'm thinking it's a great surface for more linen! But it will probably need to go back. . . . 








I've changed the lace sheers since you last saw them too!








So much for playing house! The sun is going down, and the weekend is over. Hope it was a good one for you!

 Have a great week ahead folks!

Jacqueline






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Friday, May 24, 2013

Roses For Remembrance






Our really hot weather burns the roses, so I went out early to pick a few.




I often think of Carol when I cut them. I still think of them as hers even after fifteen years.




She was the previous owner of the house and planted beautiful tea roses in the yard. We only met her two or three times, but I'm thankful every spring for the legacy she left behind.





A day in May dedicated to remembrance can include more than appreciation for those who have fallen in the line of duty.  









Memorial Day reminds me of roses in particular. We had profuse climbing rose bushes along the walls of our yard when I was a girl, so we never bought flowers to take to the small village graveyard at the foot of the mountain where my Father's family is all buried. We would place them in tin cans full of water at the many handmade markers in the dusty New Mexico landscape of the burial ground all surrounded by cedar posts and barbed wire. Family members were the only caretakers then.





We would go on a  picnic after, near the mountain streams. A tradition that we kept up while our own family was young.










It was Shakespeare's Ophelia that pronounced that rosemary is for remembrance as she handed Hamlet the sprig. But for many of us, roses are for remembrance too. . . .







Wishing you a lovely Memorial Day weekend!

Jacqueline






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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

A Bit Before & Way After The Festivites



Just sayin' hi! And showing you the two photos I took before we set everything up for the wedding.This was the welcome sign the kids got ready to greet guests.




The weather held out. And we were able to get the three toddlers out of the locked bathroom after the handle fell off on the inside of the door an hour before the wedding. 




But it's all over now. The lawn is beginning to recover, and the mounds of bedding and table linen have all been washed.




Besides the wedding, we got to the zoo, threw a fifteenth birthday party, and one day went for a swim. 





This is my quiet companion for a little while now as we smooth things out. I'm a little exhausted, exhilarated, and have a bit of a back ache and sore throat. 




Feelin' a bit rumpled.





But I've ironed just a few things for therapy. The small pieces.



And one or two favorites. 






There's a pile or two that will never get done. . . .





It's been a sweet and wonderful time. We would do it again next week if we could!

Thanks so much for all your wonderful well wishes!
 I'm looking forward to catching up to you all again!

Jacqueline