Where, What & Why

Where have I been, what have I been doing, and why have I not posted about it all? I don't know! It could be that I can't seem to take time to land long enough to put it all on my blog.

I think I needed a kick-start of inspiration. 

I found that in West Texas. Yes, in Big ol' Abilene.

I woke up early on a Thursday morning and fought my way across the DFW metroplex to make it for my Old Homes Club meeting at 11:00. My friend, Molly, has the most welcoming home.

Molly,Christie and Kay. We were treated with the best food! Thanks ladies!!

I found inspiration around every corner.

One of my favorites was the repurposed umbrella.
Molly made the pillows on the bench.

Okay, I was tempted to just crawl in...

I know you are eyeing that nest pillow on the bed. My friend Mary is a very talented artist and has a wonderful collection on her website, Fig Marmalade.

What a wall to wake up and see! Another talented friend of mine, Roxanne, painted the NEST picture for Molly.

The next morning my good friend, Jo Carol, and I set out on a hunt for treasures. We started by hitting a few Abilene garage sales without finding much. This called for a Road Trip!! A quick gas/bank/dogsitter run and we were headed south. In a  Brownwood store, I turned the corner and found Jo Carol surrounded by gumball machines (and a little dust...).

These sinks caught my attention. I was reminded that Mr. Ella and I actually pulled one of these out of our first house in 1981. 

Yikes, I have come a long way...

We were told this table and bench came out of an old school. The man selling it said he was taking it to  Warrenton. It was priced at $500.00, so if you see it at Antique Week it could be priced a little higher...

After a day of  fun junking, my sister and I took my Dad to the best movie. Seven Days in Utopia.  This film has a special meaning to my family. It is based in Utopia, Texas. Our family deer lease was in this area. We visited Utopia often when I was growing up. My mother grew up visiting here grandparents home on the Sabinal River.

There is a cemetery  that is in many scenes of the movie. This is where my great grandparents are buried and many relatives. We visited there just a year ago, where my father toured us all around. He then took us over to Uvalde where he grew up. It was extra special to see this film with him.

The movie is rated G, can you believe it? Definitely worth your time.

I am sooo glad I decided to go to West Texas. It was a great trip.

Flights of Fancy Nancy

Have you all tried the New Editor in Blogger? I may be way behind, but I finally am getting the hang of their new improvements.

For example, I wanted to have a post with some of the many birdie photos that I have shared during my blog life. The new editor actually made that quite simple when I went to the image loading page. There are now several choices of where you can retrieve your photos. Upload, From this Blog, From Picasa Web Albums or From URL. I chose From this Blog...

Now when I enlarge my photos it is a simple right click of the mouse. Before I was having to tap into my hidden geeky side and dig into the HTML code for the changes. This way is sooo much easier ....

I  just discovered a new trick... there is a little back/undo arrow at the top left.  It is that undo part I like- a lot.

I am digging change now.

I am feeling quite content in my little computer world.

Yepper, I could get use to this....

At least until the next time some more of those improvements come this way!

The most recent Flea Market Style Magazine mentioned The Antique Company Mall under their
Readers' 80 Favorite Antique Malls. Yoo Hoo!

Wendy Abel wrote that our store reminded her of her Aunt Millie's home.

The ad said we have 10+ dealers, but we really have 100+ dealers.

Oops, a little typo...

Come by and step back in time at ACM.

I haven't been taking much time to browse the blogs lately, but the House of Hargrove caught my attention today. Elaine has a wonderful post on the new wallpaper trends. I was reminded of a store we ran across on our recent trip to Connecticut.

(Seymour Antiques Company)

The back room immediately pulled me in and captured my attention.

I suddenly felt the need for a good nap though...

How clever to hang mismatched vintage wallpapers. An unexpected way of decorating-my favorite...

Mr. Ella did his eye-roll thing when I told him I wanted to try this in the guest bedroom of our new old house!

Connecticut

I had the pleasure of spending a long 4th of July weekend with Mr. Ella in Connecticut. The house pictured above was the main building of the Bed & Breakfast where we stayed for part of the trip.

Our room was next door above the ice cream shop. How appropriate for Summer travelers!

We meandered around the pretty countryside and quaint towns where we found wonderful architecture.

This style of house was everywhere.

We saw so much inspiration for our Romantic Prairie home back in Texas.

Details. I LoVe the little, but eye catching details.

Let's Play Ball!

The last time I visited my friend, Jo Carol, she had made some ball flowers. Her inspiration came from the latest Flea Market Style Magazine. I had seen these flowers in the magazine and thought they were cute, but way too much work. Well, I must say they looked even better in person. I headed home and started looking for baseballs. Of course these sort of things always turn out to be harder than they look....

I figured out the best technique that worked for me and went to town.

They can be made with the inside or the outside facing out. I just seem to be drawn to the texture of the inside. Have fun and pin them on a purse, a pillow or whatever tickles your fancy...

Enjoy your Holiday weekend!! Play Ball!