Shadow Shot Sunday...A New Balance

rise up into
the breath of the early morn
enclosed in each step
is a permit to live
out the contracted
certified beginnings
of excellent credit

do you see it
written in the fine print
of the shadow

old memories
do not dispute
my reservation
in this life
I engage possession
now and forever
it is mine
it is a valid address

all correspondence
with the past
shall be held accountable
and payable
to my future scheme
all transactions
shall be mailed
to...

if applicable

please do not fold, bend or mutilate...



s.wilson

Ok...maybe I got up a little too early this mornin'...right...
as a credit card statement looms out of the corner of my eye,
I've already decided that this day will begin with a smile of irony...
You can never take it too seriously
or you'll get caught up in the drama
of someone else's dis-ease!

BREATHE...
Take a step into your own life this beautiful Saturday morn,
(Sunday down under...)
it is beautiful you know,
even as it storms here in Ioway
there is the smell of a new day all 'round
and I want to get all the goody out of every second!

Hey, Harriet...that's what I'm talkin' about!

Ahhhh...Good Will...

It's a treasure hunt every day, isn't this just the cutest lil cream pitcher...

Made in Taiwan, but who cares, it's used and it has character...
and what about that lil' 'made in Japan'
monkey playin' the saxaphone...
that stuff was so popular back in the day when I was a kid,
shelf sitters that Granny had sittin' in the winder...

It's Scratchy...wanna play???
A little plaster whatchamacallit...
and the 'made in Japan' cigarette holder...
I love that it has holes in it's ears for the smoke to filter out...
back in the day when it was fashionable to smoke...
ewwwww...never did that one, bad enough
I had to breathe everyone else's smoke!

So with a trip every day to the stores, one always comes home
with a delight, er inventory!!!

Ha!

Again....

Yup, all the rains up North of us have finally reached our shores and the riverfront festivities of Great River Days has had to relocate out to the community college grounds...geesh!

What a season this year...can you say storms...

The sunset shined brilliantly through my parlor window the other night...
it looked like the whole world was ablaze!

Mmmmm...Iowa...fresh sliced tomaters and onions, corn on the cob...SWEET..
and sauteed eggplant...oh yeah
and an ice cold brew...ahhhhh...on a scorchin' night in Ioway!

...and a famous Muscatine cantaloupe...have I died...

They rolled in and...

...they rolled out...all in a summer's season...'tis good to be alive...
BREATHE...

A shopping we will go...

Well, guess who I ran into over at Sisters' yesterday...
Brandon from House Things...
That cart has more miles on it than Route 66...
Brandon was seen pushing it over at Simply Iowa,
Barb C.'s got the picture to prove it...
We're all a crazy lot, aye...

Two twin end tables are now filling the vacant space up in my room at Sisters,
new white oval frame and
a new batch of White Linen soap...yummm...

Brandon just drags in the best stuff, he has a great eye
and it all blends in so well with all my stuff in the next room.

Fun displays abound...but you have to go up and enjoy for yourself...
Sister's Garden and Bloom...
PARADISE!!!

The carpenter and her jewels...

The ravages of summer storms played havoc with my aluminum storm door last week ripping it from it's hinges...soooo...
I replaced it with a new vintage wood door...
sweet huh!
The original Friend's store was in this quaint lil' brick house that was sold along with everyone else's homes on the block to build a Family Video store.
All the homes were torn down, but we were allowed to salvage anything we wanted from them.
I wish I could've gotten all of the arched windows, but there just wasn't enough time or help,
but I do have the fancy Victorian door, that will someday be on my front door...
heehee...

My jewels...well...I spent the other part of the day making soap for Amazing Grace in Amana...
Sandy you are gonna love the Blueberry and Strawberry Rhubarb...OMG!!!
This scent is Oatmeal, Milk & Honey
and has organic oatmeal scrub.

This emerald jewel is Garden Mint, laced with bits of ground mint leaf...
mmmmm...tingly!

Strawberry Rhubarb...oh yeah, is your mouth gonna water with this one...

Blueberry...you like the berries...well, you are gonna love this sweet scented fruit flavor!

Sweet Orange Chili Pepper...bright orange fruity scent...

Clean breeze...like fresh laundry on the line...mmmmm...

Chanel #5...oh yeah...the scent of the 60's,
who doesn't love it...
As you can see my jewels abound, as this morning I finish the soaps heading to Sister's Garden as well...never a dull moment at The Pink Chateau...
the sweet scents of Sweet Repose linger on a summer breeze.

Finally....a day in paradise...shopping...

What women do best...besides talking...

I went shopping...YAYYYY...
Have you ever wanted something for your own yard that was just so cool and you knew it would enhance that gateway to your rabbit hole perfectly...AND...it was only $30.00...
me too...I now have an arbor...
the Queen has an arbor...

Well, I certainly hit the mother-load of picture frames...check out these beauties.
Some will get painted today and others will stay 'as is' ...
delicate beauties all.

I fell in love with this matching pair of farm chairs. Someone had attempted to strip them and had obviously given up on the project many years ago, as the old paint left on them has been there a long time...glad they stopped the process...too cool!
And this sweet lil' corner shelf has certainly seen better days, chipped and dinged and roughly nailed back together, only adds to it's charm...and it's white!

Just had to have this lil' wire stand too...why...well, 'cause!!!

Smalls...you gotta have the smalls...
Don't know about you but, when I'm out on a days excursion, everything I buy tends to all work together like I'm doing a setting with just the pieces I'm purchasing...
colors match, textures match,
what'sup with that...
Like I can set all this stuff up on the back of my truck and have a sale right there
with a darling display...
what'sup with that...

Delicate wire baskets all spider-webby and tarnished silver...
what more could a girl ask for...
besides the cow horn...
SWEET!!!

Shadow Shot Sunday...Weaner...

Tis good to be queen
a life filled with great pleasures
and constant humor

Right...
I try not to take anything too serious these days,
life is so complicated as it is
and if you can't have fun with it...
where are you anyway...

Iowa!

I wear the crown of Iowa, the Nu-way Weaner, as you see from my former post...
I love this thing, a new toy perhaps, yet a constant reminder that everything isn't always what it seems, you can make the best of anything!

It's Sunday in Australia and all of us dreamers and seekers are down at Harriet's place...
come on down...
we're crazy addicted!

To be a queen...

What is it to be a queen of your domain...to rule over your subjects with caring and appreciation for all they bring to your world...
perhaps...

The crown...the crown of Iowa...heehee...sure looks like a crown.
You know, in this biz of antiquing and blogging, things can get a little overwhelming at times.
The mad rush to always be scoping for inventory, keeping up with styles and current trends,
we all feel the stress at times.
But trying to keep it in perspective so it doesn't wear you down or send you to bankruptcy, is quite a juggling act and I know you know what I'm talkin' about!

This is a close-up of my crown...
the Nu-way Weaner...befitting, don't you think...
First to explain to all you city folk, this apparatus was attached to a cows udder to wean the calf off her milk. Whenever the calf tries to suckle, they would bump into the metal band which pushes a sharp barb into the udder, thus making the cow back away from the calf...
genius!!!

Thus...the queen of my realm is using this tried and true method to slow down in her world, when I get too involved in the rat race, I'm gonna put on my crown and back away from the labor of it all...thus my new lil' shop slash garage, which they will start building soon. The guys were two months out in all the projects they had to do for others, but my project will soon be on their schedule...I'll try and stop by to catch their progress on my way to Sisters'...
I'm excited, how 'bout you...

weighing in on the scales of things...
...and a progress report on the new location for the Candle Shed...
WOWZA!!!
Word of mouth is finally taking hold and the Shed is getting back it's old steam...
refills are flying in the door, as people are thinking ahead to Christmas...
I know, I know...but...
it is what it is...
Piper and I were discussing this the other day, we are seeing a whole different clientele than we had in the downtown location...
and almost everyone comments on the parking...
IT'S THERE!!!
We have it, a whole parking lot free of meter maids!!!
Of course all of our former patrons are finding us and every day is a new day of discovery, as Piper gets her Mojo back and candles are flying out the door, just like back in the day...!

They can whine all they want about the economy they want to, but Americans are resilient, especially in the Midwest where people are ultra-conservative(cheap)...
and proud of it!
We see a trend forming...staying closer to home, choosing wisely of the amount of dept one wants to take on...do we really need that, do our kids need to be reigned in, do we really need that big of a house...?!
People are spending again, I gauge our biz on the little people, not the corporate thugs wheeling and dealing in high stake finance(swindling),
but the little peeps, like you and me...
it's not about what you have, it's about the enjoyment of what you have, the little things that make a house a home...
move over 'the Jones'...you ain't all that!

What I'll do today...

Piper made the cutest lil' birdhouses for a gal the other day, she wanted them hillbilly, do you think it worked...

Love the bread tin on the roof of this lil' abode...Americana sweet!

These mums were just screaming to be arranged in the shop...

So this bit o Fall will greet you as you walk in the front door...

This cupboard will also be transformed today...I'll show ya the results tomorrow...
heehee...

This one will still await the opening of my new shop...sigh...
IS IT HERE YET!!!

It's in the air...do you feel it...

Yes Fall...according to the Farmer's Almanac, we here in the Midwest are going to have a long cold Winter, there it is, I said it, the 'W' word...but I've been seeing signs already. The leaves on my walnut trees are falling, I see fuzzy caterpillars bumb'ling 'cross the highways and the weird thing is, there were'nt as many birds this year as last and only two nestings instead of three.
SIGNS...

SWEET'...

A new necklace made in the wee hours of the mornin'...
This lil' bumbler is huge, a good two inches and is surrounded by yellow turquoise beads resembling pollen balls...love it...
It's for sale on 'The Wild Thing' blog.

This may look like an ordinary cake safe topper, but in fact, it's a hanging light...
I wrenched on it yesterday and attached the cord and fixture, now it's ready to be hung in someone's kitchen...sweet huh...

Did I mention the nuts on the tree...

There are nuts on my family tree...how 'bout yours...

My daughter and Grandson yuckin' it up...kids...!

My Brother lavishing affection on our Pops...

Dad...King of his Domain...surveying his kingdom...

Mom and Bill...they keep MY FLORIDA ready for my return...and always a cold one handy...mmmmm...let's go for a ride guys!!!
What's for lunch...Capt. Hirams' perhaps!

Scratchy and Grampy workin' on a toilet...always the supervisor,
she has to be in the thick of it...

My black eye...

Nuff said...later...