Granbury: A Fine Mess

hey y'all,

i don't know about y'all, but this heat is fixin' to kill me. and contrary to what hubby believes, there IS such a thing as a heat index factor. he said it's a "made up" figure to make everyone THINK it's hotter than it really is.

sigh. yes, dear. it's all a conspiracy. damn those meteorologists!

anyways, despite the heat (and the near 110 degree heat index!) we ventured out of our air-conditioned home and up to the little town of granbury, texas. i think at one time you could describe it as "quaint". not anymore. it seemed rather crowdy and trafficky. but still a nice place for a short visit.

for those not in the know, granbury is the county seat for hood county. it has a lovely historic courthouse (which at this time appears to be under some sort of reconstruction/demolition/gutting/remodeling process). and as any county seat worth its salt, its courthouse square is packed with cute little artsy-fartsy shops and boutiques festooned with frippery, trifles and trinkets, gewgaws and baubles ... antiquities, books, food, etc., so on and so forth.

a window display at brazos river trading co. ... look closely at the reflection, as it turns out to be the ONLY photo i took of the historic courthouse.

before checking into our b&b, the pomegranate house, we perused the square (in the comfort of our a/c'd car), checking out what the square had to offer. since we had a little time to kill (and being literary-minded) we parked at the book store, aptly called books on the square, and went in for a little look-see.





quickly tiring of this shop (mainly because my keen eye had spotted an antique store next door!), we cruised on over to brazos river trading co., antiques and collectibles. as soon as we crossed the door's threshold, i sucked in a deeeeeep breath of air. this is my litmus test for antique stores. if it smells like grandma's underwear drawer, then i know i'm in the company of some real antiques.



as i am wont to do, i began snapping pictures of their displays ... for blogging purposes only, of course. since i've been called on the carpet for taking pictures in shops before, i always check for signage that states the shop's policy with respect to picture-taking.

there was nothing posted.

however, mr. brazos river trading co. was quick to let me know i was treading on thin ice. brrrrrrr. he then told me i needed to delete the pictures i'd already taken. sure, pal. whatever you say. NOT.

hubby just walked out the door and left me standing there with mr. brazos river and my offending iphone/camera. when questioned about his policy, he proceeded with a prolonged discourse about scammers and ebay and profiteers, blah blah blah. waaaaa waaaaa waaaaa.

all's i wanted to do was blog about your shop, i told him. sooooo ... that's what i'm doing. except not in a favorable light, which, btw, was purely HIS doing. and here are the pictures, which of course i did NOT delete. hmmmph. he's not the boss of ME.







oh, and his prices are ri-effing-diculous. no telling what his overhead is on that precious plot of prime property, right there on the square.

on a much happier note, the pomegranate house was absolutely delightful! thank you sara and tom baker for your gracious hospitality and welcome. the breakfasts and desserts were wonderfully delicious ... and your cottages were so comfy and beautiful! we enjoyed our time with y'all so much. thanks for all the funny one-liners, tom! :)

front of the pomegranate house

our cottage, the royal oak.

sitting area on our front porch

sweet colorful armadillo who stood guard over the koi pond, in front of our cottage.

eating a sumptuous breakfast on the pomegranate house's screened-in porch. whatup with that hair?! sheesh. heat + humidity = freaky hairdo.

inside our cottage:





what's wrong with this picture? first one to leave a comment with the correct answer gets a prize. seriously!!

on our last day, i finally found a true junker's delight! after googling "thrift shops" in granbury (after all, how many expensive, high-brow shops can one endure?!) i found the boys and girls club thrift shop out on the highway.

but right before we got to our intended destination, we stumbled upon another thrift shop called a fine mess.



and what a fine mess it was! i met the nicest ladies who run the store, with the help of grand-daughter gracie.

janet, linda and grace, shop props of a fine mess.

they are true junkers at heart (like me!) and decided to open up their very own resale shop about 6 months ago. i was in heaven! we swapped some interesting and funny junking stories (hubby finally gave up and left me in the shop with them) ... and then linda decided to give me a VIP tour of their "inventory room".

she opened a back door to the shop, and i could NOT believe my eyes! a huge (albeit hot) warehouse-type room filled with what else? inventory! oh.my.gawd. my eyes could scarcely take it all in. my heart was fluttering and i'm pretty sure i was hyperventilating. thank goodness linda understood the physical symptoms of an over-stimulated junker.





i spotted a vintage quilt and a gorgeous minty greenish chenille spread immediately. i knew she didn't want me back there for very long because of liability issues ... it wasn't meant for shoppers. so i quickly asked her about the quilt and spread. after a short consultation with her business partner janet, they decided to sell them to me for $5 each! janet had intended to cut them up and cover pillows, etc with the material.

now they're mine. :)



thanks, janet and linda (and gracie!) for such a fun visit and sharing your shop with me. i had a blast and will certainly return (with my junkin' buddies, aka The FAGs in tow) for another adventure.

one of the several rooms in a fine mess.

hubby takes a rest while linda and grace sort out some merchandise.

for you junkers living in the metroplex (fw, dallas, etc), y'all need to head on over to granbury and visit these lovely ladies at a fine mess. c'mon. it's only a short drive over there and you'll be glad you did. tell 'em terry lee sent you and you just might get the VIP tour of the inventory room!

afterwards, we did hit the boys club thrift shop. i picked up a couple of sweet plates (can a girl have too many pink-flowered plates?!) and a rose cup.



it's nice to get away sometimes ... but as dorothy said while clicking her ruby slippers together, there's no place like home. ain't that the truth?

love and hugs,
terry lee