Romancing the home...

This is the newest addition to the chateau, I couldn't resist...something about the little girl and her playful kitten that just tugged at my heartstrings...

What was going on in the minds of the Victorians back in the day, that they filled their homes with these wonderful old prints.

Romance obviously...the dreams of the perfect relationship and fairytale lifestyle...

...and the toil of the day(every day) was a walk in paradise, blossom filled paths lead to a darling cottage in the valley...

...and every home had this special portrait of a special deity...though I'm not quite buying the blue eyes...it was necessary to have to confirm your devotion...

But they all make my lil' pink shack feel cozy and warm...you know, like granny just moved out...

Crowning Glory...

Wouldn't you just love to sleep under the stars in this grand old dame...
simple, yet elegant beds of old...wonder what the foot board would've
looked like...I went to my fave haunt yesterday, didn't get much cause I forgot my checkbook...
oh the horror!!!

I didn't go shopping under the stars yesterday either, though I did drive a few streets, but most of the heaps were mattresses and fake Walmart furniture and TV cabinets...and I pondered at what a throw-away society we had become...

I watched a program last night on PBS...a woman half Vietnamese, half American...a product of our invasion of Vietnam, wanted to seek out her roots and meet her Vietnamese mother and family...well you can just imagine what happens...

She was adopted by an American family and lived in the states all her life...then thrown into the family culture of Vietnam, she was smothered by loving kisses and hugs from ALL of her family, you could sense a tension in her, then it was seeing her mother's home, cooking with wood, no air-conditioning, rough shack in a neighborhood with chickens and dogs and kids running free...

She was afraid and confused...went to the fish market and couldn't believe these people ate this stuff...more confusion...
Then the family asked for her financial support to help with the caring of the family and their mother...
...she was mortified and hurt...
A stranger to her own flesh and blood, she couldn't wait to leave, to get back to the states...
and normalcy...

Define that please...when did we get so normal, that families and lifestyles are just throwaways...
She never had contact with her family again and a mother filled with guilt from the adoption, the child with an American, the disgrace of a life scorned by her own people and a war
and poverty...

Like the beautiful Victorian headboard, a throw-away...yet there is purpose there...
some see the beauty, some don't...
but this is what makes our lives whole, the choices we make...
are we willing to grow and accept what we have...or
are we still searching...and for what!?

It's those damned Jones again...

The harbinger of Spring...

Big garbage pick-up...yayyyyy...

Hey, this is recycling at it's finest...they set it out, you pick it up...right...
I couldn't believe it when I saw these shutters all in a heap...
they are lavender on one side and green on the other!
The blue boards are shutters too and the door is white on the other side,
a few panes missing, but went did that ever matter...right...

...and this cool old wood table with an old painted linoleum top which I'm going to try and flip
to expose the wood on the other side...don't ya just love it...
and I'll be right back out there tomorrow diggin' through the trash...
I mean inventory...ha...

But, as I was driving down one of the streets, I glanced over my shoulder and saw this strange sight...

I knew they were moving this wonderful old home, but I wasn't sure quite where...
you wouldn't believe where they moved it from, a maize of small streets 3 blocks away as the crow flies...but whew, what a move...but isn't she grand!!!
...and not one curved glass window broken...dang!

I was really thinking kudos to the guy that bought it from the city for $1000.00, but then I found out he was one of our infamous slum-lords...
my bubble burst
I'm back to my pickin...

Transformed...

I took up an old picture to hang on the newly painted walls to see what the old finish looks like against the gray and black paint we decided to paint the walls. We don't have much wall space, it's mostly windows so the backs of cupboards and shelves will have to be used for each setting...no problemo...

The gray just looks so elegant and the wood around all the windows will be left unpainted adding contrast to the painted woods that will be dragged in, this will be interesting how we will pull off the look in this new space...

...but covering most of the red on the walls and painting the light fixtures flat black, make the space look bigger...

Kids gotta be kids...as people strain to see inside through all the paper on the windows, Piper and her friend Pat drew a stick person with eyes cut out so the peeps can check out the progress...
all we see is rolling eyeballs...LOL!

I really think painting above the light fixtures from white to black, makes a statement, it just isn't as busy and looks fresh...

The mall entrance by Tan World, we are down the hall from them...

...our hall, newly carpeted, looking toward front entrance...

...side entrance of Tan World, one of the new stores that is really taking off and will be major for getting new peeps to the mall...
we're excited, so week after next, we start to move it all in...
did I mention my brain hurts...

Shadow Shot Sunday...Dances With Dogs...

I walk the path 'round my self
following each one of me
to the temple behind
the old flowing lace
I have many faces
seeking many dreams

I long to dance with wild dogs
dust drifting from paws
coursing the winds of my fables
gather me into your legend
whisper into my ear
that I am free

sing songs to a breeze
o'er ancient plains
where great storms
carve channels into
the whirlpools and canyons
of my soul
creating me

a feather falls
it brushes my cheek
opening my eye
sister lark calls
step out of the currant and drift to a cloud
into the brilliant blue eye
of the now
and be comforted
that you may soar with the gull
and he will say
she danced with wild dogs


s.wilson

My lil' semi-wild companion catches some rays before the shadows of the rainclouds envelope us this Shadow Shot Sunday...we won't see the sun for days as this system moves East, however we need the rain for the gardens...I was having to water new seedlings, this rain should make them POP!!!

Check out the others, as we take you on adventures all over the world in search of the illusive shadows...and I continue to find more of me in the vast expanse of my soul...
For me, it's the music, it sets my sails...
so don't forget to turn up your sound to expand your own inner journey...

Vision...

Piper and I celebrated last night after signing the lease with sizzling rice soup and egg roles at our fave Chinese restaurant, so naturally we charged into our fortune cookies to see if good fortune was to be had...well, this one was mine...do ya think...!

...so now visions of settings dance in my head...

These are from Sisters' Garden, but...the idea's the same...have junk will travel and we got stuff,
as we plan to tear down our gazebo and rebuild for the garden setting planned at the new shop.
Piper will be there painting all weekend while I run the store...
and we know what I'll be doing...
packing my truck!
From this point on my truck will never go there without a FULL load...

Tony, the mall manager told us
that everyone out there is very excited about us coming on board,
when you have an established biz,
word travels fast...
as a matter of fact, Piper got an email yesterday
from someone who wants to put a bakery in out there
and wondered if there was a space...

and so it begins...
new life to a dead mall
if you build it
they will come...

I feel the good vibes, how 'bout you!!!

And so it begins...

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their comments and concerns, this is no slight of hand move for my daughter, this is her second move in ten years of owning The Shed, unlike her Mother...Where is she now Wilson...is she following her footsteps...or maybe she gets the concept of beating a dead horse...

There's a movie theater and a dance and karate studio in the mall, that were once downtown and they attract a lot of watchers.

I know all you small biz owners know what we're going through...those sleepless money worrying nights, will they come and when they do will it be enough to sustain. Those that know me, know that finding inventory has never been a problem, my shops have always been full to the brim...the question here is, is the mall ready for us two go-getters..heehee...

You do what you can with what you have and I think Piper and I are qualified...
we don't let the meanies get us down...we're gonna WOW um with our smarts and try to encourage other small biz to make the move...
too bad so many have already closed their doors for good...bummer...

who knew...

Piper told me over the phone yesterday on my way home from Sisters' that not one person walked through her doors...
gee, I wonder why...oh I know...
they have the main thoroughfare to the downtown closed for resurfacing...
for a month now...
that's progress!

See ya at the new shop friends...

A city under a cloud...

Our fair city, once a bustling river port, is now a fading memory of it's former self...
six blocks of wonderful turn of the century architecture.
Shop after shop closes down, unable to maintain, as a city administration allows it to die.
A few years ago they took out the parking meters, BUT, the ordinance was way too vague
for ordinary humans to comprehend...
Three hour limits were set for each space, which is great for shoppers,
BUT...
it has been consumed by uncaring business owners, their employees and low-rent tenants.
Never a space left for shoppers, as every three hours you can stand in front of your empty shop and watch the dead-beats walk out and move their vehicle to another space.
It closed my shop down and many others and we all say the same thing...
PARKING!!!
Oh yeah, and a side note, there is a free parking lot one block away and a metered 10 hour parking lot a half block away...
go figure...sooooooooooooooooooooooo...

Our local mall is being renovated after years of neglect and HUGE rents and is desperately seeking tenants...so Piper and I drove out yesterday to check out the spaces available.
This space was once a restaurant and has tons of windows, right now they are covered in paper so you can't see the mess inside while it awaits someones vision to start anew.

OK, so try to envision Friends' Candle Shed opening up shop in this quaint lil' space...

This would be the mall entrance after it's door are installed again...

Black, red and white checkered tiles, hanging lights on every window, great for displays and is about the same size that we have right now.
Can you feel it yet...
We will paint the ceiling tiles black and the walls an industrial gray.
There is also a small bar sink which would be perfect for 'The Soap Bar' to set up shop, as we all know that handling fresh bars of home-brewed soaps can be messy.

We love the look of the red ceiling fans...there is an ol' timey feel to this space that would easily pull off a country look, a garden look, a french bistro and with the wall of stainless steel from the former kitchen, we could actually do an industrial look...

So whatta ya think...are we nuts(don't answer that)...
We are right near a major entrance where 'Tan World' just opened up and has tripled their biz since moving here..
A gourmet sub shop, 'Jimmy Johns' is opening across from us, and 'Berlin's Pro Shop' silk screen' is right next door...hmmmm...T-shirts...
Down the center is a clothing resale store, 'Shop to Drop' that has tripled her biz since moving out of the downtown and is opening up the space right next door too, for kids' clothes...
A Christian book/card store has moved in from the downtown...same scenario...
tripled biz.
Hazel Greens' bridal shop and alteration biz moved from the downtown 5 years ago to the mall, biz is booming and she will open a tea room next door to her store soon.

So all in all Piper and I have made a decision, something must change
and if the city won't...we must.

This means in the winter months we won't have to wait days for the streets to be plowed, all the leaves from the landscaping trees won't be blowing in the front door, PLENTY of parking right out front...

and best of all, we may see the mall-walkers back and new life set to a once packed mall...
It's a start and I think we will pull it off...

If you build it, they will come!

Tradition speaks....

When you want to walk back in time, a trip To Manley's Antiques is what the doctor orders...
however, I'd love to virtually send you there but Dave and LeeAnn are of the old school,
no computer and no cell phone, so you just have to make a trip to see this wonderful shop in Muscatine, just up the street from my daughter's shop Friends' Candle Shed.

Again, LeeAnns' displays tempt...
I went to school with these guys and been buying antiques from them for years. Dave has restored many of my own pieces and would cringe if he knew I painted them...ha!

Every display is a setting of vintage charm, perfectly restored to your dream room fancy...
LeeAnn has a way to charm each and every setting.

This is what started it all, the love of the old, rescuing from certain demise and creating a comfort zone in our own lives that reminds us of Granny and the times we call...
simpler...
though our Granny's would digress...
Granny would always say,
don't lettum kid ya...
they weren't easy or simple!!!

Visit Manley's Antiques
Muscatine, Iowa
563-264-1475

An outing for Scratchy...

For those of you that didn't know, Scratchy had knee surgery last Friday...OMG...I was alone for a whole day...I had the entire bed to myself...I kept hearing her walk into the room, I wanted to let her outside, I wanted to feed her on schedule...
BUT...
she wasn't here...!!!
You know they say when you have an amputation, you still feel the body part, like it never left...

That's how I felt...
WHERE'S SCRATCHY!!!

OK...I may be obsessing, but it sure is good to hav'er back.
She's doing great, though still walking on 3 legs, she's climbing steps and getting fed out of her chair...OK, she's a tad spoiled...
but she's my bud and you do what you do...
when you're not the alpha female!!!

Sooooo...
we went shopping and got some great stuff...
I put the word out for paned windows and doors,
I have this vision of my Rabbit Hole
and a dream of a shack in my yard made entirely out of recycled materials,
how fun would that be...
old windows and furniture and barn boards.
I want my own singing conservatory
where the wind blows through the cracks
and the knotholes and sings the song of the sirens
an ode to
where there's a will there's a way...

HEY...what a great name for the shack(solarium)...

"THERSAWILL THERSAWAY"

Shadow Shot Sunday.....and the kitchen sink...

When you have it all
you naturally have the kitchen sink

isn't that how it goes...

well...
and maybe a toad

but what you really have is an
over-active imagination
a thrill for the ride
a never-ending
quest for the junk
and the dust of the road
you are a dealer
of antiquities and such
a collector of fine trash
a designer of domains
a dealer in strange
a picker...

so keep on reading into yesterday's post
and you'll step into the realm
of one dealer's nest
the love
and the passion of
this person's trash
and of course
the sink

what else !

Check out the others shadows over here...
and please keep reading yesterday's post to see the rest of this magical shop
and the love of the trash and the hunt
to fill this wonderful space
of an Alice in wonderland
my friend Barb Connor's place...

Cross Creek Antiques
Fairfax, Iowa

Come with me Alice...find your own rabbit hole...

Through these doors one enters a magical realm...the wonderland of Barb Connors...her magic filled rabbit hole, a constant inspiration to me...
Cross Creek Antiques and Simply Iowa, the blog...

Will you be inspired
by wispy glass beading
and statues all beckoning
and fountains all streaming
with rusted and crackled
and faded old flair
by sun drenched age'd hollows
in this moaning conservatory
of a mad hatter's lair

...be inspired
listen to the siren song

be not afraid
to follow your heart
have a tea party
with crystal
and velvet
a decorator's art

it's true what I said
this room it does sing
with the wind through the panes
it moans with a ring
of mystics and magic
and the hum of the rains
I was awed by it's foray
in a traveler's dream game

...the church of the soul...

...the gateway to Edens..

...and the mystique all around...

...find your own rabbit hole
the magic
and the mystique
of your very own Alice
your sweet soul
and your wide-eyed
inner peace...


Thanks Barb for always inspiring me to clutter my realm...!