These won't let you down!

You know the feeling.............you see a great book...FANTASTIC DROOL WORTHY COVER and then you start flipping through and ...blah...nothing...a whole lotta text and not enough pictures OR the pictures inside have nothing in common with the picture on the cover...whatever.....WELLLLLL here a few of my favs that HAVEN'T let me down....all of them are available on amazon.com or buy.com for dirt cheap too! ENJOY!!

WHAT A WEEKEND !!!!!! part 1

I am happy to report that our First Shop Keeper Sunday was a HIT!!!!! We had GREAT vendors, Fabulous but HOT weather, and SUPER SALES! A big thank you to everyone who came out to support this event! Looks like it's a keeper!!!(maybe that pun WAS intended just a little bit....!!!) Can't wait until next months!! It was an early start to the day..but vendors started rolling in at 8 to start setting up.....

Here's Dana and Donna with The Hall Closet...great handmade jewerly..............

SO what do you do with a 12 foot ladder??? My friend Wendy had this there for sale and Mr. OTM saw advertising possibilites...great idea!!

One of my wonderful customers Kathy had this booth filled with super junk...aka treasures...she sold so much she can retire (almost!!!)

keep scrolling onto part 2.......................

WHAT A WEEKEND!!! part 2

Don't stop now...more wonderful finds at SHopKeeper Sunday............... Handmade strawberry and peach jam AND birdhouses by Susan............

Handmade aprons blowing in the breeze on an adorable clotheline display by Vicki....

Fall is almost here and with a peek at Tammy's goodies , it makes me excited!!

Handmade Junk Jewels by Janna...had to get the junker girl one!

Handmade cards by Bridgett and her mom...most of these beauties were only $1.00!

If you missed this Shop Keeper Sunday...DON'T FREAK OUT!!! Our next one is schedualed for Aug. 23rd! More great vendors, more great junk!!

SHOP KEEPER SUNDAY THIS SUNDAY 7/26

HEY EVERYBODY!!! LOOKIN FOR SOMETHING TO DO THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON????? OLDE TYME MARKETPLACE IS HAVING IT'S SHOP KEEPER SUNDAY FROM 11-5 ! The shop is FILLED WITH NEW FINDS & NEW DISPLAYS THROUGH OUT!! PLUS...We will have additional vendors set up out side selling even more junk, jewerly, handmades , furniture and MORE!
Too much fun for ONE so bring a friend!! Located at 121 N. White St. Marshville .....one turn off HWY. 74 right behind BB&T bank . Questions???? 704-942-6258
YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS!!!!! C..U..THERE!!

~~~JUNK from the TRUNK!!~~~

PLEASE TELL ME that I am NOT THE ONLY ONE who drives around with junk finds in the trunk of their car for a week (or more depending)????? I better get some comments on this one or else I will feel totally embarrassed. I have had a ton of stuff in the trunk since I got home from Ohio LAST WEEK and just finally today got some of it out in my booth at the Poet! Felt good I gotta tell ya....HOWEVER ....it is filled up yet AGAIN!!! UGH.....what is a junker to do???? Can you just imagine if I had my CDL and could haul an 18 wheeler around???? Oh the fun.............anyway here are a few junk finds pics for you to peek at! Want somethin????? Could be yours....just an email away! I didn't realize I didn't know how to spell gauge until I was trying to write the description on the dang price tag! Well I wound up having it wrong after like 4 attempts and had to rewrite them all. I should add here that I was THE SECOND GRADE SPELLING BEE CHAMPION in like 1975 ...oh yeah...won a Spiedel bracelet and everything...thank GOODNESS I didn't get THIS extremely difficult little bugger..all my fame and fortune would have been only a dream..................lol! UPDATE...CLOCK...SOLD!!

Mercury glass candle holders .....LOVE THESE! They rode home with me all wrapped up cozy inside the vintage bread box they are standing on! The vintage cigarette and cigar cases have the perfect look....chippy, shabby and both with CROWNS! Too die for right????

The tarnished silver wins me over every time and if I let myself I could go nuts buying this all up whenever I see it.....SO to help avoid getting tarnished silver overload, I really have to LOVE LOVE LOVE the piece in order to give it place in the shop or booth. This tray is a GREAT example! UPDATE...COMPACT ...SOLD!! FOOTED BOWL...SOLD....CRUMB CATCHER ...SOLD!!!

Shabby, rusty vintage TURQUOISE LICENSE PLATES from Maryland....wish North Carolina's were this cute......................

Okay, now this was not in the trunk BUT I knew you'd like to see it...shabby chippy white on the outside, chippy peely turquoise on the inside...YUMMY! Mr. OTM'S window house WAS in the trunk however BUT only for the trip to the booth. Okay....well that does it for this post....remember..PLEASE don't leave me hangin ......Do y'all carry JUNK IN THE TRUNK????? WINDOW HOUSE...SOLD!

Daughter of a grape farmer...............

All my life since I was born , my dad has been a Concord grape farmer. He is one of the hardest working men I know. Along with the grapes he had always worked another job, with the Ohio State Highway Patrol for the past 30 years. I often wondered if he considered the grapes his FIRST job or the Patrol. I was always impressed at the discipline he had to devote so much time to the farm along with working his other job. Having my own business, I know how important self discipline is and can honestly say that is something I learned from watching my father. As is true in so many cases with a farmer, they would not be able to accomplish anything of significance without the help of their wife. My mom has been out their right along side him, trimming, picking, tying you name it. She has sacrificed time, attention and all that goes into putting a crop first. From that , I learned from my mother what your priorities are and what is truly most important. Nice view of the plants themselves..the bark is peely and the grapes are supported by a top and bottom wire.

This is what the grapes look like now.............................

Yep 82 rows (used to be 88) ...each row individually numbered.............

Will eventually become THIS....WELCH'S GRAPE JUICE! So the next time you are in the grocery store...pick up some Welch's grape juice and you could just possibly be drinking some of dad's grapes! It really is delicious and good for you if I do say so myself!

Hope you enjoyed the vineyard tour! Just in case you are wondering....NO we do NOT pick this all by hand..(thank goodness!) Harvest time comes at the end of Sept. and lasts for a good month or so. There is a special grape picker tractor that does all that...it goes over the top of the row and vibrates the grapes onto a conveyor belt and spills them out a shoot into a 100 ton bin. They are then shipped of to the Welch's processing plant. Okay well that's the end of the tour, if you have any questions, please feel free ot ask! Thanks for coming along!! ;0)

THE FARM...............

It feels soooo good to be home! I guess you could also say , it FELT sooo good to BE home! While I was in Ohio at mom and dads I took some pictures to share with you all of where I grew up. The following pictures are of the farm. I will break this up into two posts and share with you the vineyard pictures in part two................... Here's the old farmhouse. She's well over 100 years old but you'd never know it! She don't look a day over 50. She got a facelift (shhhh don't tell ) when she got her vinyl siding put on. The sign in the front says Virant Farm. My brother and I got that for mom and dad a few years ago. My bedroom was on the left on the second story.

I love our old barn. The loft is HUGE and filled with tons of garage sale stuff mom wants to get rid of! Anyone want to plan a trip up to Ohio??? I can hear everybody flipping their calendar pages now!! LOL! The lean-to off the side was a later addition and is used as the wood shed. Mom and Dad have always heated the whole house with a Yotel wood stove located in the kitchen.

The greenhouse is great for mom to put her plants into when winter gets here.

This garden is in the back of the house and is filled with herbs and roses...beautiful!

This is a little peek at the vineyard from the backyard of the house. See the red tool shed??? Well the rows of green beyond that are the grapes. Can you believe that there used to be an adorable outhouse to the left of the shed and Dad pushed it over...ON PURPOSE!! Mom about had a fit...so did I!! Anyway, I always love being at the farm and walking around the gardens. That is definitly one thing that I REALLY miss here in North Carolina is the Ohio soil. All the flowers up there get so big and beautiful and lush and here the soil is so red and crappy and hard. The flowers just don't grow the same and it breaks my heart a bit. Well I hope you enjoyed the tour of the olde homestead. I'll post part 2 in a few days! I missed you all while I was gone...it's good to be home!

Tuesday.........

That is when I'll be back!!! I am leaving tomorrow morning to head to Ohio for my grandma's memorial. While I am home I plan on taking some pictures of where I grew up to share with you all when I get back. Thank you so much to everyone who left such kind words for me. I appreciate them so much! Soooooooo be prepared...I will be back in a few days and I may even have a few junk pics for you too....hint hint...(I will be stopping at few spots on the way home) !! Take Care everyone!

A Find For ME!!

I was so excited today! I had to go restock my booth in Charlotte this afternoon so I hit a few of my favorite shops along the way. Lookie what I found! This adorable old antique handmade Scottie Dog quilt! It is precious beyond words. Now for those of you who don't know...I have a real Scottie Dog and her name is Ally.
I am not one to collect all kinds of Scottie stuff just because I have one BUT this was a total exception! I fell in love with it right away...the faded browns and the white background fit perfect into my decor, espicically in the living room. I needed a good pick me up and this was it! I have been smiling every time I look at it. Sometimes it just takes something simple like this to raise you spirit.

This little quilt must have been meant for me because the gal in the shop told me it has been there since March. I was the right person today. Still smilin...............! :0)

A GLIMPSE OF SOME FAVS AROUND MY HOUSE

I wasn't having the best day yesteday.....my mom called me at 1:45 and told me that my grandma had passed away. We had known this was coming for awhile and had chance to prepare. The best part of all of it...she died just because she was an old lady...97. She wasn't sick, hadn't gone thru a terrible illness,her little body was just worn out. That hardly happens anymore. The worse part for me is that I am here in North Carolina , not Ohio. This is the first time I have lost someone and am away from "home." I will be heading up there though, just as soon as I hear from mom as to what the arrangements are. To keep my mind occupied I cleaned out the garage yesterday and went through some boxes I had not gone through since I moved here FOUR YEARS AGO! So glad I did...I found a bunch of my favorite goodies I had carefully packed. That got me thinking about favorite things and thought I would share with you a few of the things that make me happy in my house. Enjoy.......... Went to an annual yard sale in Ohio a few years back always held on July 4th weekend....these folks always had a ton of stuff sitting out....well the hunter in me spied this old restaruant sign still inside a shed (the door was cracked open so I peeked!) leaning against a superb pile of junk. Well you know I had to getta closer look and as I was the guy came over and told me that this was stuff they hadn't gotten out yet!! YIPPEE!! Okay..well how much you ask???????? $20.00 . It now hangs in the living room as you head into the dining room.

This old berry basket was a freebie. This lady was having a HUGE yard sale and had an ENORMOUS MOUND of baskets in her driveway. She told me I could take whatever ones I wanted. This isn't the only beauty I snagged that day. I walked away with so much stuff I lost count. You'll see more of it in future posts I am sure! The little stool that it is sitting on cost a buck! Even had the adorable quilt top nailed on it. The greenery was also a yard sale find at 1.00. The most expensive thing in the pic is the wire nest and eggs at 7.95. Add it all up and the whole thing set me back 10.00!

Didn't get so lucky with this grouping.......I have admired fabric covered books ever since I first saw them in a Country Living Magazine a gazillion years ago. In all my travels, shopping ventures and antiquing episodes I have never found any...until this spring! You should have seen them all! A whole bookcase just full! I wanted every one and just started stackin them up...til I started ADDING them up! Holy ta moly...I had to put on the brakes. They started at 3.00 each and went up to 12.00. After what felt like hours I came up with these in a great color combo. All of them are at least hundred years old. I splurged and spent about 50.00 on all of them and you might think I am crazy BUT I love them! The little wire chick and eggs was a flea market find at 5.00 and the birdhouse lamp was a TS purchase for 3.99!

Okay..lets just add this one up.......Big Black Metal Rooster was a flea market find at 20.00, the metal can also flea market at 10.00, the antique tin ceiling tile came from an antique shop in Charleston SC, 15.00, the greenery ball is actually inside a vase that was a legit inside a store purchase at 10.00, the little concrete scotty dog was 2.00 at a yard sale, the old clock face was an etsy buy for 12.00, the antique clock came from a garage sale 10.00 and the chippy bucket was bought at auction for 5.00....total $79.00

Finally , I just love this grouping because I have just basically throw a bunch of stuff all willy nilly into a great old basket and by some miracle it looks great! The old bottle is what started this whole group. I bought it at an antique shop because of the old label ! It is handwritten and says Peach Brandy 1934. For the record it was 10.00.

So as you can see, I love the rustic primitive look only with a different color pallette. The requirements are usually :it must be chippy, unique and cheap! What a great decorating philosophy huh? Hope you enjoyed a peek inside my house. I will share more later!

HAVE A HAPPY 4TH EVERYBODY!!

I took this picture of Olde Glory when we went to Charleston SC on Easter. I have been waiting to use it since. This was just blowing in the breeze on the upper balcony of one of the old fabulous mansions along the battery. I am not usually a good photographer because I was born with a patience deficiency...LOL! But I was just at the right place and the right time to capture this pretty shot. I hope you all have a Happy 4th of July Holiday and get to spend time with family and friends and CELEBRATE! We have so much to be thankful for!!