100 Miles of Rural America, Wildlife and Yard Sales...

What a delightful weekend... the perfect mix for My Love and I. 

  Pennsylvania hosted their annual 100 mile yard sale over 2 days -

 traversing remote roads and villages with lots of wildlife sightings in between.   

This picture says it all - see those mountains?  They were a constant!  

See that yard sale - also a constant!   

(And this house has plans to be turned into a bed & breakfast

 within the next 6 months - yippee!) 

We were adventurous and took 'big bad black dog' along. 

She did great while we were 'on the road'... not so great at the campsite.  

(She doesn't 'play well with others' - just not a nice 'people' dog.)

  But we survived as campsite time was minimal this go-round.

The mountain regions in PA are just beautiful...

...with lots and lots of cabins and camps...

We supported the local firehouses along the way for lunch and snacks...

And were honored to get to some great properties...

 My love had the time of his life shooting wildlife.  

Can't wait to see his pics!  Can you tell what he's shooting here?

Did I mention the small, small villages?

And sweet mountain churches?

This is some of the goods - mostly smalls - that came home with us. 

That flower (dianthus) is real and I had been wanting one- so happy!

So was it worth the trip?  A thousand times yes!  Perhaps not in

 miles vs. goods.  But in sightings and experiences - many times over!  

For more pictures - visit my Quilted Nest Facebook page 

(and follow me - you'll make my day!)  ~Joyce

Shopping in Kalona, IA...

On our recent road trip vacation - I spent some time roaming around 

Kalona, IA with my cousin.  What a treat!   It's a very midwestern

 looking town.  Everybody knows everybody and is nice to each other 

and oh my - I was ready to move in!

Our first stop was a Fall Festival.  Not sure why I didn't take more pictures... 

but I thought this vendor's signage with just perfect...

Then we hit the Pink Begonia which was a little downtown antique co-op.  

Just love the name and the owner was so sweet.  She had homemade 

cookies at the check out and the antique cash register is the real deal.  

It's what she uses to ring up a sale!

Photo from Pink Begonia facebook page

Next up was The Shop which had sort of a modern farmhouse feel.  

They had great displays everywhere - including their sidewalk decor

But the best part?  

The Shop was having a yard sale - about a mile from the store.  

We boogied right over there and oh my... it was my highlight of our trip.

Take a peek at some of my stash...

I couldn't resist this party banner in black and ecru.  

Shop price - $18.  Yard sale price - $1!

They had lots of fabrics and linens and the prices were crazy good.  But I restrained myself and picked up just a few of the extra special pretties.

They left a tag on the child's slip which of course made it feel like 

a steal at - you guessed it - $1!

This dish caught my eye too so for $2 - in my pile it went...

And ticking... when I find the truly old stuff - I get it.  

Etsy buyers are liking it!

Dear Kalona - I'd be happy to return.  

You left a place in my heart for sure.

Why don't you hop on over to the Pink Begonia and The Shop 

via facebook and send 'em some love!  (links above)

And go take a road trip.  They're wonderfully refreshing!  ~Joyce

(Visit my Quilted Nest facebook page for a few extra trip pics.)

Don't Be A Yard Sale Snob...

What's a yard sale snob you ask?  Well - it could be several things -

 but for the sake of this post -  it's someone who doesn't stop at a

 yard sale cause it doesn't look 'good' enough or they don't see

 anything they want.  Such was my case with this particular yard sale today.  

But because I was parked right at the end of the driveway to visit

 other sales in the development - I sauntered in to be polite.

To the left (and not in the picture) was a table with a few apparent

 less-than-desirable things.  But when I got closer - I noticed maybe 3 linens. 
 And underneath them - this darling coral pink satin damask vintage tablecloth.  
Yippee skippy!

It even retains its tag!  (oooh - a 'crown' tag)...

Among my other finds of the day were these shell encrusted

 miniature shoes... (more pink)

Shoes and tablecloth will be in my Etsy shop shortly.

And I treated myself to a bit of great smelling perfume for 50 cents.

Okay - it's really body mist.  But still - it's from Victoria's Secret 

and even at half a bottle - worth every penny.  And ya can't put a

 price tag on the pick-me-up some new nice smelly stuff gives a gal!

But what really tickled me today - was a pile of baskets.. for free!

I chose 3 to use for gift baskets.  And look - I found some flower

sprigs and an almost new candle too -  totaling just 75 cents.  

Turns out they make a pretty nice instant fall grouping... 

It won't stay a grouping long... 

gonna be filling & gifting one of those baskets shortly.  

How I love weekends...~Joyce

Filling a Jar...

A few weeks ago - I picked up a bag of unused potpourri 

for $1 at an indoor sale.

I had a certain container I planned to fill in my living room - 

but there wasn't quite enough potpourri to do it justice.  

So they both just waited....

...until this weekend when another sale yielded another find.  

How about a bag of raffia balls for 50 cents?    That'll work!

  Potpourri + balls + a few seashells I found lying around = 

not a bad looking jar of goods.

And my living room smells amazing!

I think yard sales are the bestest things ever!  ~Joyce

Pinterest Inspired - Flower Delivery - Yard Sale Morning...

What a fun morning I've had!   

 First I gathered a stash to take with me then headed out...

 ...to replicate a little Pinterest inspiration I found.

This lovely kraft paper wrapped bouquet by Brewed Together

just spoke to me and I had to do it - today!

So with supplies in hand - I picked up said bouquet.  

But first - a little detour to the first 'yard sale' of the season.

It was an indoor yard sale - but turned out to be at a newly opened store...ughh...

I don't call store sales - yard sales - and wasn't even sure I wanted to go in...

I did.  

But back to the flowers cause next stop is 'delivery'.

So in the back of my trusty little HHR (that's a car) - I got to work...

 

And then headed to my destination. The recipient? 

I recently discovered that My Love likes brown kraft paper - 

(a fun little fact I'm enjoying) - so off to his work I went...

 He was quite proud to put those tulips up there

with his precious bicycle for all his coworkers to see.

He's happens to be a fairly avid hobby bicyclist - so flowers, bicycle - it's all good!

 And the indoor 'yard sale'?  I'm glad I went in.   

Nothing fancy but prices were good and they had a $1 room.  

Everything I found was indeed $1!  Even the spaghetti santa...

And while this potpourri packaging shows some signs of storage -

 it still smells wonderful and I've been looking for something 

to fill a glass container I have. Yep - $1 - not $20!

Something for me (spring chicks) and something for my gift drawer...

 Cause tied with a pretty ribbon the cards are definitely gift worthy.

Yeah - it's been a fun morning -

all thanks to a little Pinterest inspiration.

And there's even a little bit more from my morning -

but I'll share that in another post.  

Till then!  ~Joyce

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