Chicago Antique Market

Today we had a great day. Mom, my sis Jen, and I went up to Chicago to go to the Chicago Antique Market. We heard about it on the web and then found out that my friend Kathy, a fellow dealer, has been a vendor at the market this summer...we decided we should check it out. It's verrrry hard to get us to go to the city...NOT. We love going downtown. Above Mom checks out a booth. You are right down in Chicago...that is the Sears Tower in the distance.The first booth we saw was Kathy's. Isn't that canoe just awesome?! She and her husband Dayton own one of the most charming antique shops in central Illinois: If you're ever coming down to Old City Hall Shoppes you should plan to drive another 20 minutes and see their shop and several other great antique shops in Fairbury. Kathy really should start a blog....I'm tellin' ya...it's the cutest shop.

Cute, cute, cute little chair!This dealer had an awesome looking booth with lots of neat treasures.Another cool booth full of interesting old stuff.

Jen and I bought typewriter key bracelets from a jewelry craftswoman. Her's says HUGZ and mine says DIY.

There were more antiques inside the hall (with wonderful live music to shop by) and an Indie Designer's Market on another floor. We saw some amazing and creative work. I especially liked the bags by Sassy. I wish I had taken a photo, but you'll just have to visit her site and her blog. Also beautiful fashions by Kate. The style, materials and attention to detail were wonderful.


We had a nice dinner out and hopped a train back home. Great day! We will be looking into the possibility of taking some things to the market next year...I think our stuff might do well there. I look like a maniac in this pic but oh well. Our mom looks cute though!

Grayslake on Dwellable

At the Auction

Mom and I went to an auction on Sunday. It was a beautiful day and the auction was held in a park with lots of towering oak trees.
Isn't this the cutest little chuck wagon?!
These are the large items I got. Two Berne chairs and an ottoman with pretty fabric. Berne is a good sturdy brand and these chairs are in excellent condition. I also got a cute little drop leaf table and a Garden-Way cart. I'm soooo excited to get that cart! They sell for $250 and I only paid $25 for it at the sale.

I have a thing about treehouses. This one is not in a tree but it feels like it. I'm afraid of heights...so I love the cage and the nice ladders to get up there. I'm on the 3rd story-yikes! This great toy is in the park where the auction was held. Yes, I used the slide to get down.

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

Listen to this carefully...it's so true!!

Edited to add...this is Anita Renfroe. Brilliant.

Addicting....

I've become a little obsessed about turning out these dishcloths. They work up pretty quickly and it's a pleasure to pick the colors and patterns. Some are patterns our grandmothers used, some are made up as I go along and some are from patterns others have shared on the internet. They are available at Home Again in Old City Hall Shoppes. I may put some on my etsy shop soon too.
I'm just learning to use the macro on my camera. Love that feature...but you sure need a ton of light.

Use what you have....

I'm using up a bunch of cotton yarn I had stored in a closet by making dishcloths. If you've never used a cotton dishcloth like grandma used to use....you're missing a great old fashioned kitchen tool. They can be machine washed and dried and the texture just gets better with time. I actually like knitted ones better, but I'm a fast crocheter and a slow knitter. So these are crocheted. I made one on the way to a band contest, and one on the way home.

Bloggy Meme

I found this meme at pixiegenne. It's an interesting one for bloggers I believe.

1. Do you promote your blog?
I have a link on my etsy and on houseblogs.net. I also have my blog addresses at the bottom of my posts in several web communities I'm a part of.
2. How often do you check hits?
I used to do it all the time...now I do when I'm curious about weather something I'm doing is effecting traffic.......for instance if I post every day do my hits go up? I also like to check referrals so I can see how people find me.
3. Do you stick to one topic?
On my drawing blog I stick to drawing.
On this blog it is pretty much anything I find interesting or what we are up to ....renovating the house, family stuff, crafty stuff, homemakery stuff.
I also keep a blog just for the shop and of course that is just about shop stuff.
4. Who knows that you have a blog?
Good question. Lots of people know about the shop blog. I think not too many people outside of my family know about my personal blogs. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe lots of them are lurking and I don't know it. I've told a couple of people in my everyday life who also draw, or who keep blogs themselves.
5. How many blogs do you read?
lots. I'm not even going to count because then I'd have to feel like I'm spending too much time reading them. I don't read them all every day. One day I'll read a lot of art journallers, another day the crafty blogs, etc.
6. Are you a fast reader?
Thank goodness yes. If you read them pretty often you usually don't have more than a post or two to read to catch up.
7. Do you customize your blog or do anything technical?
No. I use blogger because it's simple. I have the plain black background for the same reason...simple, kind of like an album.
8. Do you blog anonymously?
Ideally I would, but I sell my stuff, so it would be hard to be anonymous. I don't plaster our names everywhere, but I don't hide them either.
9. To what extent do you censor yourself?
My life is like everyone's...some good things, some bad. My blog is mostly the good stuff, because I'm not putting my dirty laundry out there. I don't in real life either. I value our privacy and my family shouldn't have to worry about what I'm going to blog. I'm not the worlds greatest housekeeper either, but I'm not going to post the biggest messes in my blog.
10. The best thing about blogging?
I started blogging to share my drawings with others on web communities with similar interests. Meeting people who love drawing, decorating and such and don't feel those are odd pursuits has been great. And the inspiration of reading other's blogs....priceless.

If you haven't done this meme jump in and let me know so I don't miss it.

Birds and the Bees...

When our son was about nine he and I were watching the Fresh Prince of Bel Air while I folded clothes and he asked, "Mom, are they having sex?"

"Nope, they're kissing." I always believed in being truthful but giving the simplest answer...that way I'm not telling more than they are ready to hear. That philosophy always worked well too. Until that day.

"Well, what is sex?"
"That's when you are married and you want to make a baby... you have sex." This kind of answer usually worked for me believe it or not, but that day he kept asking question after question. I guess he was ready to hear. My ears strained to hear the sound of Joe's truck coming in the drive...his father would be the better person to do this for our son. I answered each one with simple answers...all the correct words for body parts...oh, darn, where is Joe???

"Do you and Dad do that?"
"Well, yes."
"Why, do you want another baby? What does it feel like? What's it like for the guy?"
All the hard questions......he was not letting me off the hook here! Mike looked astounded at what sex really involved. My heart was pounding, but I kept a cool facade. Finally out of questions he runs out to play.

Finally Joe comes trotting in from work. Well, good grief! I just told him everything. I quickly fill him in on what we were talking about and suggest that he may want to talk to our baby himself. Joe says sure, and then heads out to light up the grill.

Mike comes back in and I figure.......hmmm, Joe can fill him in here. "Mike, you know I don't know what it feels like for the guy, but I hear your dad out there and I'm sure he'd love to help you with that question...go ask him"

Mike ambles out there and I listen at the kitchen window. Joe says he hears we've been talking........Mike says, " you know Dad, it sounds kind of... (he makes a yucky face)." Joe says, Well son, sex is kind of like tuna casserole."

What the.........sex is like WHAT? I'm thinking if you're going to use a food analogy how about steak, a hot fudge sundae, or maybe a Boston creme pie??

He continues, "When your mom makes tuna casserole, she throws in noodles, some mushroom soup, peas, tuna and a little milk. None of it sounds so good by itself but you put them all togther and heat it up and it's delicious!"

So there you have it. Sex is like tuna casserole.

Don't worry. A couple of years later while were on vacation at the lake our daughter started asking me the same questions. I told her "Look here comes your dad run and ask him." So they go on a walk and by the time they return she knows the whole scoop. He said he about lost it when he had to describe how the male anatomy works. But he toughed it out... you know, I didn't want him to miss out on the sweet moments!

This post was inspired by this post by Anne at My Tiny Kingdom. The woman is hoot and I nearly choked I was laughing so hard.

Homecoming........

Homecoming in our small town is a big event. With powderpuff football, band, dance, and oh, of course school....quite the busy week. The parade is fun...she was in homecoming court this year and thrilled to ride in a car instead of marching in band for the parade.
Bringing the team through town in a semi truck.

The girls dressed up for the dance. The dance is themed each year and the kids have a blast dressing up. Disney was the theme this year. Here we have Zenon Girl of the 21st Century, Kim Possible, Meg (from Hercules) and a Cheetah Girl. Kim Possible should have been the easiest costume ever, but my sewing machine kept wanting to eat the knit that shirt was made of....so I ended up backing it with some paper......and then picking the white paper out of the stitches on that black shirt. And of course I had waited until the night before.......
At the dance. They looked like they were having a blast.

Painting....leads to glazing....leads to roofing.......leads to

rewiring! Well, we simply want to get the front (and maybe the side) of the house repainted this fall. You can see how worn and peely and mildewy the paint is.........it's 10 years old on this side. So Joe has been scraping and washing and painting. The part over the porch is starting to look purty nice, don'tcha think? I actually got up there and helped one day even though I am deathly afraid of heights. Then of course the glazing on the windows needs to touched up before you can paint that. And the porch roof was in baaaad shape, so he ripped it off and while we've got the roof off.....we might as well run some new wiring so the porch light will work again.......and put one outside the door while we're at it. Hmmmm this is a bigger job than we thought. Such is life in an old house.
Here's my cute boy........all grown up and a working man. I can hardly believe it.
Saturday I had a special treat. A fellow blogger came in to my shop. Judy has a wonderful blog called Midlife Bliss. She is so friendly and sweet...and she has 11 kids.......doesn't she look great?! Now I have to tell you though, that when I saw this pic of me, I went straight to the hairdresser that night. I told her to give me a cute haircut and take 50 pounds off.
She only did one of them....so hard to find good help these days!

Thank You.......

Heather Bailey! Aren't these beeeyoutiful fabrics?! I won them over at Heather's site when she posted a contest. She's such a talented lady. I can't wait to make something out of them.....I don't know what yet, but I'll think of something special. I should have posted earlier, but lately I'm so far behind that I think I'm ahead. Thank you Heather.