Monday, August 18, 2008

A DAY AT LOWRY PARK ZOO, TAMPA



Last Saturday my friend Jeanne and I took five kids to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. What a hoot - two grannies and kids ages 2-12! The weather was very "iffy" at the outset but we braved on anyway. It was brutally humid and warm.

This zoo has a very high rating and I was impressed with the variety of animals that live there. We got to see many critters but not anywhere near all of them. We got to see the albino gator and a baby chimp! So cool!

We grannies pooped out way before the kids did and had to call it a day at mid-afternoon shortly after we got caught in a downpour. I'm sure everyone slept well that night, I know I did!

I would highly recommend a visit to this zoo (maybe in the cooler season), just have lots of $ on hand for food for humans and treats to feed the animals and birds. At least the parking was free. As I looked at the photos I took I decided that my personal favorites were the penguins, giraffes AND the blue frogs. I think the kids loved the giraffes. What an amazing world the Lord created for us! JUST AWESOME!

Friday, August 8, 2008

AN AFTERNOON PROJECT

CHANGES IN DISPLAY











I spent a couple of hours at the shop yesterday and put brown "silk" at the back of the hutch hoping to show off my wares better. I think it worked and I send special thanks to my BFF Jan in Seattle for the advise!

Friday, August 1, 2008

PEDDLER'S VILLAGE - DADE CITY, FLORIDA


Well, I did it! Today I spent hours and hours setting up my space in the Peddler's Village, Dade City, FL. The shop is owned and operated by Lonnie Monteiro who is very personable, kind and helpful. She just took over the shop in April and is making wonderful changes. Every time I go there it looks better and better!

The quaint town of Dade City is about half an hour from our home, it's a nice, easy drive. Even though it rained all day, it was kind of nice and cozy (okay, it was really warm and sticky but I'm trying to make this a nice story) and a perfect day to set up. Despite the rain, the shop had customers which was very encouraging for this newbie vendor.

I have rented that cream colored hutch under the lattice work next to the window. I'm just tickled with the location - plenty of natural light and good exposure.
The shop has a whole balcony of vintage clothing and accessories including lingerie, shoes, bags and hats. Can you spot the reclining lady in the photo? What a hoot!

You will find just about everything in this huge store. Besides the large room that is shown in this photo, there is just as much room on the other side of the main entry (not shown in photos) just chock full of goodies!

Pottery, fine glass, jewelry, linens, primitives, dolls, china, you name it, Peddler's Village has it! Oh, and if you can't find what you're looking for, just ask Lonnie. Amazingly, she knows where everything is! AND it's refreshingly obvious that customers are treated well and much appreciated.
Here is the fruit of my labor...linens, hankies, jewelry, china, etc, etc...lots of stuff! I plan to add more to fill up the hutch very soon. The lattice needs decorating and Zippy the monkey looks kind of lonely up on top so he will soon have friends up there.

I have jewelry in the top drawer and hankies in the second. I plan to purchase some nice baskets for the side cubbies so it will be easier to view tablecloths and tea towels.
Pictured here are Pam Blaho (vendor) and Lonnie Monteiro (owner) relaxing at the 50's kitchen table after a tough day in the shop.

So if you are in Florida, Dade City is worth checking into. It's located 40 miles northeast of Tampa. There are lots of little shops & restaurants. Plant City is another old town worth checking out - it has tons of antiques shops and eateries. But first come to Dade City and be sure to stop in Peddler's Village. See you soon!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

A NEW VENTURE

I'm pretty excited! I have finally taken the plunge to rent space in an antiques shop/mall. I will have a space in Peddler's Village in Dade City, Florida starting tomorrow. I still can't believe it but after working all day pulling inventory together I'm pooped so I guess it's really happening. I willl upload photos of the shop and tell you more soon!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

BECKY HAS SOME AND SO DO I!

I have a couple of scottie pictures and thought I'd share them. One is of Gus...I did it in an art class a couple of years ago. The other one is of Gus's niece, Ruby! We bought Gus from breeder Karen Prokopetz of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Her husband, Gord, is a super talented guy and in his spare time (from running Pokey's tackle and bait shop in Regina, plus doing to-scale critters for museums) he started to take a class for copper engraving at the U of Regina. FANTASTIC results from that man...and this is a print he did of Ruby. We received it for Christmas a couple of years ago and cherish it!

Monday, April 28, 2008

I JUST JOINED P.E.P. ON EBAY

Well, I don't know if anyone out there cares, but I just joined P.E.P (Painting Ebay Pretty)...

Friday, April 18, 2008

KEEPING IT ALL TOGETHER


I forgot to show you the cabinet that I keep the whole collection in. Jockie suggested using some of the hankies that I have to fancy up the shelves and I must admit that it DID do the job. You can actually see the scotties now.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

This is one of my favorites! I call him Buster. He came to me from Ebay! He is really OLD - what a character. He stands on top of the cabinet and keeps his eye on the rest of the pack to be sure they stay in line!

HEY, have you noticed that when you post this way your first posting ends up at the bottom...sigh...

This cup and saucer made my heart race when I spotted it in a case at a thrift shop! Scottish humor, not always easy to understand, but profound when you "get it".

The little funky brown guy was given to me by my friend Larry. He said he had it when he was a child. I felt quite honored that he would give it to me.

Aren't these adorable? I found them on Ebay. The little one is from Germany. The larger one has a little leather collar.

A few years ago Steve & I went to England and while we were there we celebrated our anniversary - he surprised me with this little guy.

See that little tea pot without a lid? That is all that is left of my childhood tea set. OH how did the other pieces go missing??? Once in a while I think of replacing the set but that's as far as it goes...

Back to the collection...
The fuzzy dog was hand made by a wonderful lady in California named Earleen who I came across on Ebay. She makes miniature one-of-a-kind needle felted sculptures that are amazing! I feel blessed to have won the auction for this little brindled beauty! He even has big ears like our Gus! Anyway...check out Earleen's work at sacredbeararts on Ebay.com.

I'll show you some of the figurines in my collection...some of them I found on Ebay, some in thrift shops and best of all - some were gifts from friends! See that black dog on the far right? One of my friends brought that all the way back from Scotland for me! I was delighted.

I have a few vintage greeting cards with scotties on them...I'm always on the prowl for those!

Friday, April 11, 2008


I never thought I'd be sharing my collection with the world at large, but hey, if you want to see what's in my case, here it is!

I have enjoyed collecting scottie stuff for about 15 years. I put all of the small items in this cabinet to keep it contained! My husband is grateful for that...

The first thing that started my collection was a pillow that I actually made for my mother. I cross stitched a scottie in the middle of it. Years later, when we actually got our very first live scottie, Maggie, Mom gave the pillow back to me. So from then on I have scouted out all kinds of little goodies...stuffed animals, linens, dishes, glasses and of course figurines!

I think my most prized pieces are the orange Goebel salt/pepper shakers that I purchased at an antiques show in Regina, SK just before we moved back to the States.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

SHOWCASING MY LITTLE SCOTTIE COLLECTION!


When Jockie was here we spent a bit of time in my workroom. I climbed over a mound of stuff to show her my case with all of my scottie dog collectibles. Then we looked through a ton of hankies that I have and she suggested that I use some of them in the case. After she went home I picked out some of the hankies and tried it.

I LOVE THE RESULT! What do you think???

Now you can really see what's in the case and the hankies compliment the Mary Engelbreit valance that I have at the window. Well, I must say that this little room is shaping up (okay, it's still a mess but I'm getting there)!

Friday, April 4, 2008

THREE DAYS OF RUNNING AROUND


Well, it doesn't get better than the past three days! My friend Jockie flew in from Ontario and we had a blast checking out the local thrift shops. The first day we drove over to Dade City where there are lots of antiques shops and a few antiques malls. We each found a few little goodies. I found an adorable wooden magazine rack for $3.50 that I will paint white and use for my teddy bears and magazines in the guest room!

We ate lunch at a place called "Lunch on Limoges" that's 100 years old! The food was fantastic...the service left a bit to be desired though. It wasn't a relaxed & charming atmosphere. Between the two of us we had a pecan encrusted chicken breast & red potatoes to die for and a turkey, bacon & cheese croissant sandwich with red potato salad. There were also yummy mini muffins and strawberry butter to start off the meal (served on Limoges plates) with our raspberry iced tea. YUM!

The next day we headed down into Tampa. Of the five thrift stores we hit, three of them were having a HALF OFF day. Now that made it all worthwhile!

Yesterday we decided to have a cultural day and drove to St. Pete for the day. We went to the International Museum to view the Vatican exhibit-200 objects. Amazing textiles. Then we took in the Pier and the Fine Arts Museum. We saw wonderful masterpieces for such a small museum...Monet, Renoir, and others. They just opened the new wing...modern and in my opinion it just doesn't blend well with the original wonderful older building, but what do I know? I'm no architect! I just know what I like! The last thing we saw was a shop that sold Croatian reverse painting...very interesting and colorful. After all of that culture, the heat and humidity we stopped into a little cafe and had some gellati (sp?)....YUM!

We hightailed it up 275 and missed the brunt of rush hour. Jockie left today, we both agreed that we had a great time!