A visit to a most fantastic garden

On the ride home from a baby shower this summer, my friend Patty asked if I wouldn't mind stopping by her friends garden. Oh my goodness......I was in for the treat of the summer. You will see by the pictures how beautiful and creative this garden was designed by the owner. Almost unbelievably at the edge of the gardens is the river down below. There were 2 ponds with Koi swimming around. A waterfall, a guesthouse, outdoor rooms. Just amazing! Enjoy.....

This antique cabinet stands in the breezeway, and holds 

refreshments

The best of the hunt

Now in my living room as a plant stand.

 Now serving as an end table .

Every Friday is a fun day of going to see all the sales , estate sales, rummage and goodwill finds. Today as I drove down a street filled with construction trucks, cones on the street everywhere, danger signs and construction workers, I began to think I should turn the car around and just get the heck out of there. But did I ? Noooooo.  I  would have missed the sale of an importer from Japan. She was selling a  lovely small black chest, and a tall red Japanese stand. Her recent move into a small condo left her little space.These two pieces are truly the prettiest I have ever bought at a sale on a friday afternoon. I purchased them for a total of $25.00.  I will enjoy them forever.....

What type of stand did I buy? Is it a shaving , plant or what stand? HELP!!!

Okay, this time I have really stumped myself. I purchased this at the Goodwill this last week. The moment  I laid my eyes on it, I knew it was going home with me! My friend Priscilla thinks it is a shaving stand. I have no idea. Please if there is anyone who can tell me what it was used for and any other information about this stand, give me a holler! It stands about 58 inches tall. I have pictures here to show what it looks like. If it is a shaving stand, they are rare, from what I've been reading. Its shelves are marble.What I thought might be markings, Priscilla believes is decoration only. Those would be found on the front and back of the first arms. I have googled til I'm cross-eyed.Nothing! Please feel free to take a guess, I can always google it. My next move is to get some books on antiques and look up stands until I find a close or exact match.
I'd welcome any ideas.

A treasure of the Hunt!

Here we go ! Its  Friday morning and the sun is shinning . Our hopes are high for today for lots of garage sales, Estate Sales and vintage sales. But sadly squashed when all we are seeing are toys and darling childrens clothing!  Of course as we are lamenting our situation , ta da! You never know whats around the corner literally. There it was , on the driveway, in the shade looking lovely. A small round table with a lovely wrought iron base and 2 matching chairs. I almost tripped over a huge stuffed bear to get to it! But I collected myself and asked for the price . Six dollars she said. I looked at Peggy who was driving this day , could we fit it in the car? Yes, she said!  Peggy is a master at putting jigsaws together. I don't know how she did it ,but it was done! Here is a picture of my treasure for this week.What do you think?

Doilies,doilies and more doilies

At a sale, last Friday, we came upon several large boxes of hand made lace doilies, dresser scarves, and tablecloths. We pawed through them, they were lovely, but thought better of it. So sadly, we left them. After lunch, at our favorite Chinese Cafe, we took our treasures home.
We were in the house less than 10 minutes, when my daughter called. I couldn't believe my ears, when I heard her question, "Do you know where I can get a big box of doilies"? "What," I said, "We just left a huge collection handmade laces. All different styles, sizes, and colors. Would you like us to go back and get them if they are still there"?

She replied "Of course"!
We had been to so many sales that day, we had to do some serious senior memory searching. Between the two of us we found our way back to the doily house! There were the boxes still sitting on the table! Yea! We were so glad to see them. I filled up one box and negotiated the price to $2 a pound. The gentleman went into the house and brought out his old bathroom scale. It came to $20. A bargain at twice the price.

Margie, my daughter is the Education and Arts Supervisor of the Kroc Center in Salem, Oregon. She works with children and is planning a project using lace to make lampshades. I'm sure they will be put to good use.









Linking to:

Latest find

Today I hit the jackpot!!!

Kitchen cabinet with a built-in wine rack

room for my cake plates and future finds!

It matches my mirror

a place to display my old Swedish scale

Recent finds for The Thrill of the Hunt

The thrill of the hunt is that you never know what you will find at a sale. I went to a Boy Scout rummage sale where all the clothing was laid out on the lawn. Lo and behold there was a grocery bag nearby filled with 6 toile black and white chair covers! I paid $18.00 for all! They are Waverlys. They were all washed and ready to put on.
Here are a few of my recent finds from the hunt......It seems lately that I have been coming across the very things I'm looking for. Sometimes that happens.

Loved the Terracotta vase.

These two baskets have the sweetest hand painted flowers on each ends of their sides.

I have been looking for a lamp like this for a long time, years ago I left one at a sale.

This is a 'Hall' teapot. I only paid $1 for it! Can you believe it?

I picked up this interesting little table lamp.

My treasure trove of mirrors!

I love mirrors. There is a story behind each one. When a picture is taken in our house, there is usually a reflection from a mirror in it. What started out as the answer to making square rooms open up became a love of mirrors of all styles . I was selective, therefore I do have an attachment to each one.  Guess I took "The Thrill of the Hunt" a little too far!  I started out bringing mirrors into the rooms to make them appear a little larger, brighter and more interesting. But then something clicked and I fell in love with mirrors!  I now own about 40 mirrors. I've never paid over $30 for any mirror. I think they can add a lot to any room. Here are a few from my collection..........