A Day In NYC...

This weekend we celebrated another year of marriage 

with a day trip via train to New York City.  

We had a few short hours and did all of our sightseeing on foot.   

 Our favorite was walking the High Line - an abandoned 

elevated railway that has been converted to a garden path/park.  

This was our first sighting as we approached...

...and a scene from on the High Line itself.

 

We enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk diner.  

Sadly this is the only picture of the 2 of us...

We saw some wonderful old buildings. This one was massive 

and had ornate detailing over every inch of it.

I was struck by the graphic coloring and aging of this building...

It was fun to look 'up' to see what we could see. 

 Loved the roof top and balcony gardens...

We hiked to Central Park where we heard 'there's always something going on'.  

We came upon a skate dance group enjoying the afternoon. 

But my personal favorite - was coming upon this 'pop up' 

gluten free bakery shop.  You can be sure I treated myself!

Good-bye fair city.  We hope to visit again yet this year.  

Tip - Amtrak has a buy 1 get 1 40% off deal going on thru Dec. for PA trips.

But next time - I think we'll be using the subway to get around.  

I am sore in places I've never been sore before in my life!

And may I also say - I'm so thankful to the Lord for these 29 years. 

I would have never imagined all the twists and turns.

But 'together' is still an awesome way to do life.  And I love my man!  ~Joyce

Glass That Sells...

I'm not a big fan of glass and rarely pick it up for reselling.  

But - during a recent haul - I did pick up a few pieces.   

Apparently this mint or jadeite green is a hit - these have both sold!

I also sold the gold beaded purse but have yet to list any 

of that wonderful silver or the pharmacy bottles.

 This whole antiquing thing is so fun.  

But I realize it's all just 'stuff' and not necessary to life.  

Yet with so much that is wrong and difficult in this world - 

sometimes a small thing here or there can bring a bit of cheer to the heart.  

 

So 'fun' is good - and these things are ours to enjoy.

  But let's hold them with a loose hand and not allow them to fill our hearts.

  Rather - let's allow our hearts be filled with the love of Jesus 

and seek after Him and His ways!

Enjoy all that this day has in store for you!  ~Joyce

 

Findings...New Listings...Elegance...

As promised - this is a glimpse of the goods I purchased on 

Saturday - the day I had me some kitten love.

There was so much at the one stand I was overwhelmed!  

I could have gotten way more - but I controlled myself.  

The seller just wanted rid of the stuff and was selling at rock bottom prices.  

I told him I sell - but it didn't make a difference.  

Still he offered great prices... super great.

As I was picking out some silverware pieces - 

he told me 'just take the whole drawer'... so I did!

The purses were 'bagged' at another sale.  

They are available here and here.

That is only a small portion of the brown pharmacy bottles I found. 

 I think I bought 18 of them!  

I've begun the listing process of these treasures.

Many will end up in my Etsy shop or on eBay.   Check out the shops here and here.

Saturday Sightings - Kitty Love...

 I wasn't able to upload photos yesterday - so please allow me 

to share a bit from my awesome Saturday with you a day late.

  

At one of the yard sales where I stopped...

...some kitties were abandoned by their mother

on the property and needed bottle fed.

Turned out it was feeding time while I was there.

What fun to snap some pictures...  (love her hat!)

And then - they gave me a turn! 

I was in kitty heaven...

I did get bunches of goodies at this sale - but I can assure you 

I stopped any and all shopping to get me some kitty love.  

I'll share about the goods later.

 

 How about one more?

What is it about holding a wee one that warms our hearts?  

It was a perfect morning! ~Joyce

Porch Sales Memorial Day Weekend...

Right now my spare time is being devoted to getting ready 

for the Mount Gretna Porch Sales.  

This was the scene last year...

 

I'm getting a good start.  

Most of my treasures will be vintage goods - at amazing prices.

Come on out!  Just 'google' Mount Gretna, PA - and you'll find us.

Porch Sales are Saturday May 23 8:00 AM.  

Stop by and say hello!  ~Joyce

Dress Rack Displays...

Every week I do 5 displays on top of dress racks at our local thrift shop.  

I use whatever I can find in the store that is not already 

in a nice display.  We're getting such a good team of decorators 

that it's getting harder to find available goods.  

But here are a few I put together from 2 weeks ago...

I use books with pretty spines fairly often - 

sometimes as risers - sometimes as a main ingredient.  

I think books and coffee go together well (above display).  

But when I returned the following week - the entire display was still intact!  

I left it together for a 2nd week - we'll see.

The pillow below also hadn't sold when I returned.

  But I expected that.  It is 'dated'.  The perfume bottle also was unsold.  

I reused it in a new display and can't wait to see if someone scooped it up.

The display below I knew would be a tough sell.  

The only things that sold were the fruit plaque, glass jar and top box.  

I think the embroidery floss is neat looking - 

but apparently no one shares my view.

But regardless - the displays gets people looking and

 thinking and I have great fun doing them.

Enjoy what you do today & rejoice in your abilities!   ~Joyce

From a Fledgling Toy Maker...

There's much about 'vintage' goods that appeal... 

the graphics, detailing, quality... 

 Plus - let's face it - for many of us they invoke memories or 

thoughts of precious loved ones from another era.

  But another aspect of 'vintage' that grabs our hearts

 is the mystery of their history.  (Did I just say that?)

  Who owned them?  How did they use them?  Who made them?  

When?  Are they still in business?...and on and on...

Recently I found this little child's toy dust pan.  Cute huh?  

It's by Wyandotte Toys - from Downriver, MI.

As cute as this toy is - the company had it's difficulties.  

At one point they made a certain gun toy that was

 considered inferior in quality by the general public.

But they sealed a deal on the toy anyway with a new company.  

Interestingly when the deal was finished - the new company 

picked up the equipment, etc. to make the toy and

 then dumped everything into the Detroit River!

   They made the deal just to end any possible competition

with no intentions of manufacturing a possibly inferior toy.  

Made me feel sad for Wyandotte.  They did go on to manufacture 

some very nice toys - but sadly ended in bankruptcy.

As for this sweet little tin pan - was the rose decal

 part of the original product  or added by the buyer?

It's hard to know.  None of my image sources show anything quite like it.

And that's all part of the allure...the 'mystery of history'.

This pan is available in my Etsy shop.

For sure - I'll be keeping my eyes open for more Wyandotte Toys.

Linking to Let's Talk Vintage

Organizing My Time...

For weeks, months, years I've been struggling to try to fit it all in.  

And yet SO much goes undone.  I'm not nearly as productive 

or healthy as I believe God desires me to be.   

Yet there are only so many hours in my week.

To add to my challenges - some tasks that I need to perform 

seem to need to be done at only certain hours of the day.  

There are only a limited number of those hours each day.

(i.e. - taking photos in certain light)

Tonight I am struck with the thought that perhaps

 some of the things I've been trying to do in my daylight hours

could wait till my evening hours... thus leaving more daylight hours.

  Who says I have to do laundry in the morning?

  Perhaps I could do it before I go to bed.  

I've been doing most of my computer time in the evenings -

but that tends to add to insomnia issues for me.

But maybe I can make meals the evening before too and

do computer time with the more freed up daylight hours.

It's all worth a try right?  We'll see how it goes and how God directs...

Do you have scheduling challenges? 

Do you follow a daily schedule?

I feel like I'm really old to be only looking at this now -

 but it is what it is!  And God is patient with us. ~Joyce

Saturday Sightings & Findings...

In my morning errands run - I went through a local town 

thinking most likely there would be some yard sales happening.  

Sure enough - this dear lady was having a sale.

Temps were in the upper 60's but she was cold - bless her heart.

 I love her hands. I didn't notice them until I edited the photo.

Some of my finds this week (though not all from her)...

It was a very 'cottage' morning.

When I went over to check out a pile of linens - the lady said - 

"You can have the whole pile for $1 if you can use them."

For real?  I felt guilty taking the whole pile - but she was serious.  

She & her friend had lots of stuff left and were making deals.

Turns out there were over 50 linens in that stack and

 almost all of them pressed and in great condition.

Visit my Etsy shop to see what may land there.

Yeah - it's been a good day.