Turning the Tables

hey y'all!!!

oh.my.gosh. i've been v. bad. AGAIN.

i know i'd promised to blog more often, but more often than not, i don't. whaa??

i don't know. life is so crazy. either i'm too tired, too bizzzzy or something else comes up.

ANYway, what drew me back to blogger (gahh gahh gahh!! it took me THIRTY minutes to figure out my login and password!!) was my most recent project(s).

recently, as i was driving down a neighborhood road, i spotted two cafe tables, sitting pretty as you please, curbside. naturally, i slammed (er, i mean slowed down) on my brakes, hit reverse and backed up to the aforementioned cafe tables. not ONE, mind you. but TWO of them. CURBSIDE!!!! (read: FREE)

i don't know about YOU, but my heart goes into v-tach (that's like real fast thumpety thump-thump for you non-medical types) when i see "stuff" that has been tossed out and kicked to the curb.

i mean, one man's trash, blah blah blah, and all that jazz, right?!?!

so i jumped out, hauled the not-so-light tables to my camry, arranged them nicely in the backseat and headed on my merry way.

let me interject here and say that these cafe tables were UgLy!!! if i had no motivation or inclination to paint them, I'D throw them out too.

case in point:

 

 

seriously?! red and silver metallic stripes! what was this USED for?! WHO used it?? looks like something that belongs at the north pole, no? ho-ho-ho!!

and then THIS one:

 

metallic silver with an attempt at trees on the top! what. the. WHAT?? maybe the tin man from the wizard of oz lost his table along with his heart.

 

 

well, i've been wanting to do a chalkboard project for the longest time. yes, folks. that's right. i'm the LAST person on planet EaRtH to use chalkboard paint. so before i even got home, i knew that one of those tables was doomed, i mean, destined to have a chalkboard top.

ALSO, i've had it in my crazy tow-headed/gray brain to paint something ... ANYTHING ... a lovely robin's egg blue. i've fallen head over heels in love with it and thought it'd be a nice change-up from my usual PINK. yes, i know ... a moment of silence. she's not using PINK.

over the last four days, the project has finally come together (after only 3 trips to walmart, several naps, multiple xanax and more than a few cuss words!).

the gawd-awful red and silver metallic table (henceforth to be known as table 1) was converted into a chalkboard table. i used the robin's egg blue for the heavy metal base.

 

the metallic silver table (table 2) has been transformed into a lovely cafe table. it has the robin's egg blue top and white for the heavy metal base.

 

i think they both turned out pretty well. i love it when i can rescue an old, thrown out, kicked to the curb piece ... and give it new life. makes me just a tad sentimental for some reason.

together, before:

 

together, after:

 

 

with any luck (blogger is imPOSSible to work with ... slooooow photo uploads, weird screens, ack!) my next post will be about another recent rescue rehab, a bad-a$$ old screen door which was teetering atop another pile of junk, on another road, awaiting another life.

til then!

love and hugs,
terry lee

 

let's have a cup of tea!

Belton on a Benjamin

hey y'all,

here we are on a lovely sunny monday! it's like a sauna outside but will i complain?! i. shall. not.

because after all that rain and flooding, it is sooooo wonderful to see the sun shining again. don't care for the humidity. hate it, in fact. but as i said, no complaints. oh hell. who am i kidding?! what's the use in TALKING about the weather if one can't complain about it?!

so ... saturday was a beautiful day for junking. and believe it or not, it was the first time in ages that all three of us (my junking pals) went out for a grand junking adventure.

first things first. we made a quick pre-stop at chick-fil-a drive-through for a bite of breakfast. here's the exciting video of that little experience.




first stop: cindy of chipped to perfection so kindly and sweetly invited us to rummage through her collection of junk ... er ... treasures in her garage. she'd just bought out the end of a yard sale and also had loot she'd purchased while on the world's longest yard sale trail.



we spent a couple of hours with her ... digging, laughing, sweating, digging some more. whew! she had LOTS of boxes with LOTS of goodies stuffed inside them! as she said in her blog, it's great fun to be around other junkers. because they. get. it. kindred spirits. thanks again for inviting us. we had a blast, cindy!







our next stop: an estate sale in belton. lovely house. shady yard and street.



not much inside. slim pickings. i guess the sale had been on for a couple of days.



but i did spy this sweetie sitting on the floor:



she's so sweet and pretty and precious. why was she still there?! i don't know! but i'm glad she was. because now she's mine.

while in search of another sale, we just happened to pass this cool old chevy.



what the what?! naturally, we had to stop and make a huge production. because that's. what. we. do.

i pulled up into the driveway (brazen, i know) and parked right next to the chevy. we hopped out and started clicking away with our iphones and cameras.

"over here! take a picture of me with the car!"



"okay, now take one of us pretending to get in the car!"



"now take one at this angle!!"



"let's get IN the car and take some pictures," the foolish one said (i'm not naming names on my pals).

"NO. way! the police are probably on their way right now!" said the voice of reason (that would be me).

we kept looking toward the owner's house, thinking that surely they were growing weary of us gawping at their antique car.

sure enough, the owners came out to greet us. no baseball bats. no guns to shoo us away. no police call either. instead, they had big ol' grins on their faces as they walked toward us.

as it happens, they get this (crazy women making ga-ga over their car?!) all the time, so says owner mark pittman. he's so proud of his collection (yes, COLLECTION) of antique cars that he showed us another one in his garage.



his wife valeria assured me that mark was thrilled to show off his cars. he even unlocked his aqua baby and let us play inside for a bit ... and took pictures of us as well! what a great sport!









thanks again to mark and valeria pittman of belton for allowing us to enjoy and share your passion for vintage cars. you made our day!

mark and valeria pittman pose with their 1954 bel-air turquoise chevy ... thanks guys!

last stop: another sweet couple, mark oler of belton upholstery) and his wife, who used to own hosanna house in belton were having a sale. they've closed the store but were selling out the last of their inventory ... half off.



i picked up a couple of vintage pearl strands and earrings. but my big purchase of the day was this gorgeous antique piece of wood. not sure what to call it because it used to be a bench in a train station (location and further history on it is being investigated).



according to mark oler, a dealer in salado bought it for $300 and promptly whacked the legs off and made it into a huge mantel piece. so i suppose that's what it is now. however, i'm happy with my current mantel (or am i? hadn't really thought of it) so i'll be using it elsewhere. am thinking above my dining room windows OR above my large, long sofa.



this baby is huge. and heavy. someone who knows something about hanging heavy things will have to help me. naturally, i plan to paint it. nice and shabby. then i'll have this awesome large shelf to put a bunch of my shite on! woohoo!!



so, how much did i pay for this yummy hunk of vintage oak? first correct guess (in comment form) wins a prize. for reals!

other than the Lunch Situation, it was a perfect day. in a nutshell, we had to bail on a mexican restaurant because the chips were tasteless, the salsa (salsa salsa salsa!) was incredibly inedible and the queso was cold and lumpy (ack!). when the server came to take our order, i (being the head FAG) had to break the news to her that we were leaving.

we paid for the drinks (but NOT the queso) and took our leave. fortunately, we had spotted a nearby mr. gatti's and had our fill of pizza, salad and waaaay too many sweet cinnamon breadsticks.

so all's well that ends well ...

fantastic friends, terrific treasures and magical memories to last a lifetime. or at least until i forget ... heh heh.

love and hugs,
terry lee

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