Style Crimper

A bad case of pink eye as severely crimped my blogging style of late. I've been home two days now and have had a chance to see what really goes on while I'm away all day...nothing surprising here.

Value

Look what $8 dollars buys these days! Fresh from a consignment auction in rural Poplar Ridge, NY comes this GIGANTIC and realistic plaster cast of a human hand. I am thrilled to be the lucky winner especially since I try to limit myself to $10 when it comes to things so weird I just have to have them. Where will you find another one?

Let me tell you - this baby is solid. You could hurt someone with this thing...

It could be worse

Woke up to 11 degree temp, sustained westerly winds, an inch of snow on the ground and a cloudless sky. It could be worse - this is what it looked like a few short weeks ago.

Stomping out ignorance one note at a time

I hear a lot of music in any given day and sometimes it's not always pretty. The week after spring break is often memorable for being the worst teaching time...students still smell like coconut tanning oil from their Florida trips or they arrive covered in henna tattoos from their travel to India. On these days, it helps to hear how much worse it might be...

One of those days...

I shouldn't complain, really I shouldn't...


In seven short weeks I'll be off for the summer...


On a day like today though, wouldn't you rather be snuggled up at home?

One last look (for now that is...)

After a week off with warm spring-like weather it's hard to think about returning to work. Rain is headed our way along with colder temps so when the sun started to peek out this afternoon I thought I had to get one last leisurely look at what's going on in the woods around our house. It's amazing to see how the squirrels have landscaped this year – we never quite know where spring bulbs will have been "planted" and this year is no exception. These tiny crocus flowers were at the edge of the yard where the woods begin.

Early spring is the best time to see what's been heaved up by the freezing and thawing. It's great time to collect field stone for the walls and also a time to find various treasures. I find shards of old white ironstone in my garden each year.

Old glass - probably a pickle jar or a vinegar bottle

Not so old glass

Giant glacial hitch-hiker

The chipmunks, squirrels and deer have had the run of the woods for while now, I can only guess that the frantic squeaking I hear is chipmunk speak for "run for your life"!

Just down the road from us is an old abandoned Greek Revival house. Our house probably looked something like this before the additions in the 1980's. This sweet little place was obviously once loved – the yard is full of old lilac bushes and is planted with hyacinths, iris and lilies.

Love that great old red paint

Clouds are starting to roll in and the temp is starting to drop. Time to head inside.

Geek Alert

Ken is a self described professional geek and me, well I'm just a geek-in-waiting (otherwise known as an amateur). Today after months of threatening we marched ourselves down to the Verizon store and purchased two new Motorola Droids. I've never been one to fawn over technology, but let me just say this - I love this machine. It is beyond cool. It does everything except make my morning coffee. Ken has already programmed his to sound like a light saber when he uses it as a sword (oh my). I immediately went about trying to use the camera and the video recorder and since it was a nice day (the last for a while I hear) I tried it out on Franklin.

Those of you who know Franklin know that he's living on borrowed time. In April he reaches the two year anniversary of a renal cancer diagnosis and despite intense pressure from the vet to put him down he seems to be thriving. For the last year or so he's been reaping the benefits of the "Feline Make a Wish Foundation" in the form of daily trips outside (barring cold weather, rain, darkness, snow and the sound of stranger's voices). Every day we have with him is a gift.

Decisions

Sometimes the biggest decisions at an auction have nothing to with buying and reselling...

Upper 60's and NO CLOUDS!

It was another glorious day with many more signs of an early spring - looks like the sap is running. Sure hope these warm temps are not a false alarm!


We took a day off today to poke around antique shops in Greene and Bainbridge, NY and came home with a few treasures for ourselves and our own shop. We also saw a wide variety of things that probably don't qualify for antique status...one shop had an array of interesting books

along with some fine "art"

What do you suppose that rose is hiding?

The prize winning piece from today's jaunt has to be this nearly life-sized plaster bust of Elvis made into a table lamp and adorned with a lace-edged shade! At $25 it's a real steal and would make a perfect gift for the person who has everything. (You'll find it on the second floor at Pheasant Run Antiques in Greene, NY).

To give you a sense of the scale of this epic item take a look at the
normal sized table lamp to the right!

Signs of an Early Spring

A lonely snow shovel

Daffodils

Lilac buds