Friends + FleaMarkets (minus infection) = Felicity

hey y'all,

wow. a lot has happened since i last bloggity blogged! let me catch you up.

i went to visit my sweet pal dana in georgetown last wednesday! we've been junking together but i'd never seen her house. oh.my.gawd. this woman is way too humble and modest about her decorating skillz!!



not only is she the sweetest, gentlest and generous soul in all of central texas, her house could be (and should be!) on the cover of better homes and gardens!











after The Tour (of her lovely house and grounds, including the chicken house!) we headed for a quick bite to eat before hitting the junking haunts of georgetown. she insisted on chick-fil-a (because it's my favorite) and we were both surprised at the ... well ... less than efficient service we received there.

normally, chick-fil-a employees are young and eager to serve you. they snap to attention when taking and delivering your order. not. the. case. on wednesday. oddly enough, there were three elderly ladies (sweet in nature, but still ...) who were manning the front counter. whaaa?!?



okay, fine. no worries. i'm not age-ist. i rattled off my order to "joyce", who responded with the most befuddled of expressions. you want what? she asked.

oh dddddear. i repeated my order, slower this time. a look of recognition flashed across her kind, crinkly face ... and then she went into full force, sloooow-motion mode of preparing my order. yikes. i'd never seen anyone fill a cup of ice soooo me-tho-di-cal-ly (read: slowly).

i nudged dana and darted my eyes over to the sweet old ladies. by the time they delivered the food to our table, we were in a full fit of giggles. dana explained the demographics of that area of georgetown: retired folks.

huh.

fine with me, as long as my waffles fries are still warm when i get 'em.

after lunch, we went to collector's market, just down the road. it's full of vendors with a lovely array of vintage items. we had sooo much fun perusing the booths!

sadly, it was time for me to head back to the ranch (not really, i don't have a ranch) ... but not before dana loaded me up with homemade strawberry preserves, a hand-poured coffee bean candle in a vintage cup, some yummy home-baked caramel apple cake and a few other treasures.



i had a terrific time, dana. thanks for your warm, southern, charming hospitality. you're THE best!

soooo when i got home that night, i noticed my right eye was itching and burning. it'd been bothering me for several days, since my punctal plug insertion of two weeks ago. go ahead. click the link ... if you dare!

when i woke up on thursday morning, this is what i saw in the mirror:





ack!!! and just in time for halloween!!

my opthamologist saw me right away and mumbled phrases like ... severe, fast-moving infection, aggressive treatment necessary, could spread to the brain, hospitalization with IV antibiotics, triangle of death (while he made a triangle over his face), blah blah blah blah.

eeeeeeyikes!!!!!!!!

mainly, i understood that i. was. sick. and very. he promptly removed the punctal plugs from the right eye and felt the need to inform me that yes, pus oooooozed out of the punctum when the plug was removed. can't say that i was surprised. the entire right side of my face was swollen and red.

got my antibiotics going (like a good nurse and patient) immediately and took to my bed for the next 24 hours.

while in the drug-induced stupor of the infected and infirm, the upcoming st. mary's flea market kept calling my name. i had committed to participate on saturday and figured that i'd have to give it up. but by saturday morning, i had reached the honeymoon phase of antibiotic relief ... and convinced myself i was healthy enough to DO IT.

so in the gawd-awful pre-dawn hours of saturday morn, hubby followed me to temple and unloaded all my wares. it took me a long time to set up ... but ice packs, covergirl, keflex, motrin and vicodin got me through it. yea!!! i made it to the flea market!!!





precious and few were the customers, but i met a couple of really sweet ones that made my day.

lisa from belton, who's a blog reader, stopped by for a visit. i love meeting new folks out there who read my blog. lisa bought a few of my home-made cards (which i made with my sewing machine) and seemed happy with them ... which made me very happy! it was soooo nice to meet you, lisa!



and sweet lil savannah came by with her mama and baby brother in tow. she was a girl after my own heart. she oooo'd and ahhhhhh'd over so much of the stuff, that i simply had to give her some of it. mama bought some things too, so i think everyone was happy at the end of the day. keep reading your books, savannah!



by the time i got home, i realized just how sick i still was ... and took to the bed again for the rest of the weekend. on monday morning, my opthamologist was pleased with my progress but reminded me that i still needed several more days of rest for complete healing. oh, and his final word to me before i left? BEHAVE!

whaaa?!?! i'm always being have.

love and hugs,
terrylee

Memorial Mayhem, Estate Sale Ecstasy

hey y'all,

as i sit here at my computer, thinking on all that's happened in the past few days, i realize a couple of things.

1. there's no way i could include everything because the blog would be too long.

2. you probably wouldn't believe it anyhow.

and that's what kind of long holiday weekend i've had.

but lemme give it a go, touching on the high points (or low ones, as the case may be).

chronologically speaking, i'm going backwards. mainly because i want to share the most recent (and unfortunate) incident that happened to bonnie and me ... to get it off my chest. well, my proverbial chest.

we went to see sex and the city 2 sunday afternoon ... which was very good, imho. don't listen to the critics.

so we were in the parking lot after the movie, chatting next to my car. the space next to mine was empty and i noticed a vehicle wanting to pull into it. i quickly shut my car door (which i had opened so i could put my purse inside the car) and got out of their way.

the driver aggressively swerved into the space and in the process, drove over the white line, coming within a hair's breadth of our legs. i screamed, thinking we both were about to be hit by this car.

when the driver and her two passengers got out the car, i was so stunned i said to her "you nearly hit us!"

well! that was all she needed. she lit into us, using all manner of foul, abusive language ... calling us names ("bitch, ho" ... and other sundry pleasantries), threatening violence if we "opened our mouths again", etc. after she and her entourage went into the theater, i took a picture of her license plate and car. then i called the police.

i've already checked. it's not easy for the average joe to run a license check in the state of texas. apparently the websites that offer this service are disreputable. however, if any of yous guys know someone who knows someone ... heh heh

we were v. shaken by this incident and i'm not sure what, if anything the police will do about it. but at least he gathered information and made a report. i'm thinking it should be against the law to nearly run someone down with your car. and i'm also thinking that it's against the law to threaten physical violence against a person, yes??

sheesh.

there we were. two middle-aged ladies out on a sunday afternoon for a chick flick ... minding our own damn business, when all hell breaks loose in the theater parking lot. a word to the wise: you're not safe anywhere. it's a wild and crazy world out there, folks.

sure makes me want to enroll in the concealed handgun class we have here in texas. can y'all just imagine terry lee packing heat?! don't mess with me or my peeps. argghh.

previously, on saturday, bon and i found two v. cool estate sales. at the first one, i ran into a sweet gentleman and his wife, who were close friends with my parents when they were all young newlyweds. he looked at me and said, "are you B.T.'s daughter?"

"yes, i am!" i replied.

claytonANDnell ... that's how i remember mama saying it. as one name. he's clayton, she's nell. :-)

without any prompting, he began telling me story after story about my parents back in the 50's and 60s.

"in 1957, B.T. bought himself a brand new '57 chevy. it was aqua and white and boy did he love that car!"

this was taken in 1963, and i think that's the '57 chevy in the background. i'm not a car person, so please, feel free to correct me if i'm wrong. btw, that's 2 year old me, easter of '63 with my daddy.

we stood there for a good half hour while he told me about mom and dad and things they all used to do together ... how funny they were and the stories my daddy used to tell. i was in heaven. there aren't many folks around that still remember my parents ... or who were that close to them. what a treat that was! i plan to visit them in the future (with a notebook and pen) to tap into more of their memories.

my purchases ... a vintage tin FULL of buttons and a sewing box filled with old sewing notions. fun fun fun!! grand total: $3

the next estate sale was larger and quite interesting. the house was built in 1966 ... and as blake, the son-in-law of the deceased told us, that's when his in-laws moved in, decorated the house according to current styles ... and never changed a thing.

don't believe me? check this out. when i walked into the front, formal living area, i thought i'd walked onto the set of madmen. or bewitched. or i dream of jeannie.







yes, it was all for sale. true vintage, mint condition 60's furniture. if i'd had room in my house i would've bought it. love love love that turquoise color. we didn't want to leave that room!

the den was much less formal, but still mid-century-ish. i was having my usual bout of junkin' hot flashes, so i decided to take advantage of the ceiling fan and sat my vintage arse down in one of the chairs for a rest.

i took out a kleenex and began blotting away at my perspiring face. allow me, at this point, to say that my right eye continues to be problematic ... it weeps constantly. so i also had to dab at my eye for a while.

as i was wiping my drippy eye, a woman walks close to me in order to see the items on the bookshelf behind my chair.

"i'm sorry, do i need to move for you?" i politely ask.

"oh no, you're fine dear."

and then adds ... "this must be very difficult for you."

i looked up at her (quizzically) and instantly recognized sympathy in her eyes. oh.my.gawd. she thinks i'm crying. she thinks i'm a family member of the deceased.

well, the bad girl in me desperately wanted to play along with her fantasy. under normal circumstances, i would have. but for some insane reason, i got the worst case of giggles i've had in a loooong time. i glanced over at bonnie, who btw, was just waiting and watching for my response and that's when i lost it.



like the perfect idiot i am, i finally choked out, "no, no. i'm a customer just like you. it's just allergies." then i turned my head away from her and buried my face in the kleenex because the giggles became so violent, my entire body was shaking. if you didn't know better, you'd think i was sobbing with grief.

whew.

later, when blake had a break between customers, he'd come in and chat with us. i always enjoy learning about the people who lived in these estate sale houses, especially if i'm buying something. i want to know a little about who they were, what they did, what they liked. it's the history that's important to me when it comes to collecting vintage pieces.



his in-laws met on july 4, 1946 at the bell county independence day festivities. they were married 3 weeks later. he passed away in 2008 and she is currently in a nursing home.

we were reveling in the sweetness of their long-lasting marriage (sometimes love and marriages DO last) when another customer, who had overheard this story, butted in with, "and sometimes people stay married for health benefits and income reasons or for the children."

ouch. so much for love and warm fuzzies.

"umm, do i detect a cynic in the house?" i said to no one in particular. yeah, yeah, i know. it takes one to know one.

that's when she and her grown daughter started sharing personal details of their sorry-ass, no account former/late husband/father, respectively. that's respectively, not respectfully. i was sorry for these women, truly i was. but they almost seemed proud of their stories. and let's not forget that we. were. perfect. strangers (emphasis on the perfect. heh heh ).



perhaps a bit o' counseling/therapy is in order? i'm just sayin' ...

speaking of therapy, i really needed this baby doll i found there! isn't she the best?! well, she could only be better if she had blonde hair. but i love her still. soooo sweet!

sorry about the string around her neck. forgot to take off her $2 price tag before i took the pic!

yes! her eyes close when you lay her down. it belonged to one of the daughters in this family.

also found a grrreat lamp for my office! really needed some light. my chandie just doesn't put out much. blake sold it to me for $6. love how you can move the angles of the three lights.



continuing on, backwards, on friday bon and i went out to lampasas, where fellow FAG and dear friend jannetta was hosting a garage sale with her sisters. she's been busy with family as of late, so we haven't seen much of her. you are missed, girl!! can't wait till we're all three back in the junkin' saddle again. together!



so long, farewell to the month of may. the bluebonnets have faded and summer's heat has already arrived. time to hit the indoor sales!

love and hugs,
terry lee