A tour of a once flourishing past...

Think of the society that built this past, a Victorian era of flourish. A new country, a new found wealth, prosperity everywhere...where has it gone...river cities all over the state have gone to ruin, as well as all over the United States, as greed pushes manufacturing out of the country where child labor and unscrupulous business practices are overlooked by corrupt law officials and city officials...just look away and the poor suffer even further degradation.

As I wander the streets of Burlington Iowa, I see the same thing as in my little burg, attorneys offices, insurance offices, real estate offices...gone are the establishments that serviced the people and made the communities what they were. These are the only business' making money these days... do you see anything wrong with this picture...

What to do on an icky day...

An icky day is just screaming for something to do...OK...retail therapy...that usually works for me...what else...and the urge to restock inventory is always a good excuse for an antique dealer...right?

This is just the most to die for picture, it's big and has a wonderful frame and just goes perfectly with the stand I just got...

See...the colors just blend together to make a marriage of color that any junker would drool over, would be cute in a bathroom to hold towels or whatever...this is going to be a hard one to part with, but when I think of all the glorious pieces I've parted with...sigh...

and old weathered farm tables are always a must grab, who can't use them, great for holding more stuff...OR...to sit a dinner table...who knew...

This funky lamp and frame were just too weird...must haves...I'll rewire today and I have the perfect decadent fancy shade to top it...again the colors of my pallet I selected today all fit, like a prearranged plan, can't help it, it's just my eyes.

I couldn't resist the lines of this lil' stool, the color works, but the plastic top will have to be replaced by old tattered fabric of some sort...

This old Vaseline glass lamp base needs rewiring, but should be wonderful when finished...

and last...finials, don't know what they were a part of, but the imagination can just run with them...

See...a simply icky day can produce magic of all sorts, if you have the right place to go...it just takes rain to stir the imagination...whatever...we all know I would've been out there hunting the honey hole no matter what the weather may be...happy hunting...!

Shadow Shot Sunday...A Gypsy Soul

I have weathered these hollow storms

old remnants tagged and forlorn

suff'ring the remainder of days

adrift in limbo

this bit of Earth

moves season to season

carried 'long side sweet streams of light

afloat in decades of leftovers

returned from wastelands

old bones form anew

that which was spent by time's unforgiven folly

a traveler

I waste not these glorious fleeting moments

reflecting harvests of decades

I shall not drift alone ol' man in the moon

I am the rain

and the dust

and the Gypsy winds...

and you harbor my soul

Shadow Shot Sunday is quickly upon us again, like the spring before us, I worry that she will come and be gone too soon, you can never have enough of a good thing...right Tracy! Join the rest of the shadow shooters, be a part of the fun...

The Nest

What does it mean 'to nest'...as women, we are the homemakers, the guardians and the teachers of our little worlds...our lil' 'nestlings learn from example, as their environment challenges their minds to explore and learn. We get the greatest satisfaction in polishing that environment to make a house a home.

Amy of 'The Nest' is doing just that, providing that catalyst that helps you make your dreams come true...the sweetest environment in the adorable country home she has decorated to invite you in to what might be, as you walk the rooms finding every nook filled with gems, old and new, to grace your home or gift an other.

The Nest is just outside Burlington, Iowa and just draws you in through it's ol' timey country doors, as you drive Hwy. 61 South...trust me, you won't resist driving by, especially as her spring gardens start to flourish and the country surroundings turn to fields of, as Spring walks into our lives again.

The Royal Path of Life...

The Royal Path of Life...doesn't get any better'n this...beer, pizza and party...

You all know my fascination with old books...this book caught my eye up at Sisters' yesterday, Barb just brought it in and I snagged right on to it...funny how that works, you can't sneak nuttin' by me...

I haven't had a chance to go through it yet, but it looks quite interesting and having just partied at Pop's bachelor pad yesterday for his 81st birthday, I got to thinking of this book and just how ROYAL all of our family lives are. How lucky we are to be alive and have a purpose set forth for us far beyond our knowledge.

It is truly royal, especially in these trying times of tightening belts...we all still have some remnants of family to be thankful for. To travel each day through our predestined future and pull each little jewel from our cache of memories...to be born...to be alive and to just be...it's royal to me...how 'bout you...

PS...the book is up for grabs in a couple of days after I've read...ha...

the young man...the rebel...my Pops...the King...

Well Pops, it's that time again, time to give tribute to my Dad on his birthday. A young man, a rebel perhaps, but a young Father with two young children, yet the dreams of a being a bush pilot never left his mind, the dreams many a young man has until the stork arrives.

Maybe after the children have flown the nest...but always there wondering...what if. Still the rebel on his BMW, Pops has taken vacations by himself to the East coast, Alaska, California and everywhere in between, to meet new people and family and to see the beauty of the land...that rebel without a cause...just to say...I did it. He still rides his cycle today, though in his 80's. I don't worry about him, cause he always says...what a way to go!

A gentle man, an honest man, an only child, dedicated to his parents and family, always a hard worker, striving for the best for his family in troubling times. Dad was always under the car or on the roof or in a tree, fixing what needed to be fixed, the tinkerer like his Father before him, yet a gentle Grandfather to his only Grandchild, my daughter Piper.

But the fun thing about Pops, is his sense of humor...always a comeback and a jokester, but true tempered and steadfast, always fun to be around...that's my Pops. Yup Pops...another day with the kids, so don't lock the doors and pull the shades...we know you're there and I have a key...

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!!! Another one down the tubes and I hope for many more...you ain't gettin' out that easy...WE LOVE YOU!!!

Spring is peeking in sky blue...

One of my favorite colors is sky blue, that's the color of spring. Variations of blue and lavender pull the thoughts of birds and blooms, as Spring creeps ever so close to our open arms. For some this has been a wretched Winter, but I can't complain...after last years snow after snow, I thought I would never be warm again, but, at least where I live, the snows have been infrequent. Winter has quickly passed my door, as birds sing mating calls and iris poke ever so slowly through their blanket of leaves.

A trip to Sisters' Garden this time of year, always sparks the urge to start raking the yard, preparing to lavish lawns with iron ornaments and metal lawn chairs...to open the doors and let in the warm, sweet airs of Spring and polish our porches with little bits of treasure from the over-flowing showrooms at Sisters' Garden...it's coming...SPRING!!!

PS...check out the new sign painted for the Sisters' store...SWEET...and the Lilac soap and candles are on their way tomorrow...

And fun was had by all...the stooges...

Our little 'goodbye' shadows reflect a fun time had by all, as Theresa and Martha left the frigid Nor'lands to head back down south to the snow and freezing rains of Kentucky and the South. We have truly lucked out here in South-central Iowa, hardly any snow this winter.

But we traveled to the city of Burlington, Iowa the other day on our shopping spree, these are some of the fabulous homes dotting Snob-hill. Burlington was once a city of extreme wealth, as wealthy business men prospered and built grand homes on the bluffs over-looking the Mississippi River. Lumber, mercantile, attorneys and business of all kinds, turned this city into the grand metropolis of an era past.

Today many business' have moved their factories elsewhere, causing the demise of this beautiful Victorian city. But many of the homes are being renovated and neighborhoods show flourish, as new biz' moves back to Burlington.

Antique stores once dotted the downtown and are now starting to make a comeback to this fabulous city and we discovered one on our travels. I have to go back to pick up a piece of furniture, so I will take more shots of this glorious downtown...you will just drool over the buildings of old. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed all the way through the city as we toured it's ruins, as an old church destroyed by fire, gives a muted monument a grand scale of history past.