JUNKIN' AT AUNT MAUDIE'S

Hey, Y'all!
Wow--I'm not sure what is passing faster, the time or the miles! All I know is that it's warm and the days are gloriously long for a whole lotta junkin'! We recently made our way to a brand new antique mall, full up of wonderful JUNK!

Aunt Maudie's Attic in Sequin, TX is home to many fabulous vendors including: 

Curious Boys,

Sisters Treasures, ... and 

Glory B's Cottage.

Aunt Maudie's Attic is a great JUNKIN' road trippin' kind of destination...just be sure to bring your largest vehicle to load up all the treasures you find!

Until next time sweet friends,

Peace, Love, and All 

the Good Stuff to y'all!

SUMMER ROAD TRIPPIN'

Hey, Y'all! True to my gypsy spirit I've been on the road criss-crossin' the blacktops all over TEXAS. My recent travels have taken me to a couple of back-to-back CITYWIDE GARAGE SALES. CWGS has been around for years and has garnered well deserved kudos for having great vendors with lots of cool JUNK. Although CWGS is usually in AUSTIN every couple of months, it is also held up the road in BELTON. Here's what I found at BELTON CWGS--a lovely assortment of ornamental metal, a silver loving cup, a concrete cherub, a hooked rug, and antique needlepoint chairs.

On my way south on I-35 I had to stop at one of my favorite restaurants, The Monument Cafe -it is a fantastic "old school" eatery with a modern edge. 

The produce and herbs are fresh from their own beautiful garden, meaning everything I've ever had there is wonderful. 

Also, as a matter of research,  I can honestly say their Texas Sheet Cake is some of the BEST I've ever eaten! After eating it was time for more shopping...this time at one of my favorite places, 

Gatherings at Georgetown. Here is the place to see some awesome "smalls" from Europe--vintage 

A peek at one of the many beautiful vignettes at Garherings. 
Photo by Carol Nygaard/Gatherings Georgetown.

French buttons, English ironstone, antique lace, little antique prayer books, as well as incredible American/Texas vintage and antique items arranged in delicious vignettes around the shop. If you enjoy looking at layers of beautiful old things--plan to be here awhile. They also sell one of my favorite magazines, Jeanned' Arc Living--a cool, luxurious read on a hot summer afternoon. 

The following weekend I headed to AUSTIN's CWGS. I don't think I have to tell anyone how fun this place is. There is literally a little bit of EVERYTHING here: industrial, cottage, beachy, western, vintage, mid-century modern, romantic, and kitchy. I enjoyed catching up with Janet from RUBBISH. 

Even her business card holder is adorable! Photo by Rubbish.

She has a fantastic collection of educational flash cards, old stuff, and needful stuff. I was lucky enough 

I love the floral pattern on this old sewing bag from Rubbish. 

to find a couple of needful things in her booth, including this wonderful sewing bag--I think I unofficially collect these now. :) Down from RUBBISH was GARDEN ANTQS VINTAGE. 

Lovely ironstone, lace, and rust at Garden Antqs Vintage.
Photo by Garden Antqs Vintage

I always enjoy her lovely displays of ironstone, Victorian, natural elements, and lace. This time was every bit as lovely! However, it was the rusty toy truck in a to-die-for green that caught my eye.

Fun, huh? I put a succulent in the back, but votive candles would be great too.

After careful negotiations I came home with it! (I think I'm collecting toy trucks now too!)

Our next stop after shopping at CWGS was the 

AUSTIN institution, Shady Grove Restaurant. We ordered the Tamale Cakes, a Hippie Chick Plate, and a pulled pork sandwich. YUM!

Our last stop before heading back to the Harris Hacienda was Austin Antique Mall where my friend BARN CHIC ANTIQUES has a booth.

 There is also a little of everything here too. 

Summer's just beginning to heat up--let the road trippin' and junkin' forays begin. 

Life is full of JUNK in a GOOD way!

Until next time, sweet friends, 

Peace, Love, and all the Good Stuff!

GLAMPING, AND 1ST SUNDAY FLEA MARKET, OH MY!

A peek from Billie Van Guilder's shop, Cottage Vintage Home.

Hey, Y'all! 
Here in TEXAS, once the temps sneak past 90 degrees, the watermelon trucks are loaded, and school is out--it's summer around here! 


Now you may be wondering what is "glamping?" 
Well, it's a combination of camping and glamour!! 

Cottage Vintage Home is full of wonderful vintage and handmade treasures.

We're about to get a good taste of glamping in a few short weeks when we head north to the cooler temperatures of WASHINGTON state for a fun

The Vancouver/Portland area is beautiful!

visit to Billie Van Guilder's incredible shop, Cottage Vintage Home, located at 2819 East Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, WA. Billie hosts the 1st Sunday Vintage Flea Market throughout the summer

There are also many French antiques at Cottage Vintage Home.

months. Some of the fabulous dealers at the previous 1st Sunday Vintage Flea Markets included Voondi, Fresh Picked, Amour Mercantile, Birdsong, Embellish,

Lots of rustic goods and vintage wonderfulness from
 Fresh Picked at the 1st Sunday Vintage Flea Market.

H Street Antiques, Rustic & Refined, Vintage Friendzy, Emily Pinkstaff, La Margarite, Old Made, and Mack & Momma to name a few!

More hand-picked items from Fresh Picked!

Sunday, July 7 the Vintage Flea Market will host many of these fantastic vendors plus more from the Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR area. 

I'll be signing copies of First Monday Murder A Jimmie Rae Flea Market Mystery and selling some Garden Cat Vintage treasures too! Can't wait to see my Pacific NW junkin' friends!!

Until next time, 

Peace, Love, and 

Happy Glamping, sweet friends!

"LIFE LIKE A PORCH"

Porch furnishings can be as simple as a rustic 

table and an old rocking  chair. I've had this Mission style

 rocker for about 10 years now. It has lived on many of 
our porches.

Hey, Y'all! Summer is slowly slipping back into our lives. Hectic schedules are gearing down. Days are heating up and getting longer. Even the Earth celebrates in abundant beautiful, fresh produce. My earliest summer memories are of evenings spent with my family on our wrap-around deck. My brothers and I spent many hours trying to catch fireflies or discovering shooting stars in the warm summer night. I also have many memories of sitting next to my grandmother on her screened porch as she rocked the porch swing and shelled just-picked field peas for our lunch the next day. 

My brother, me, and our grandmother on the porch about 12 years ago.

While we lived in McKinney, I found a new fondness for porches. I met one of my best friends because she is an avid porch sitter and happened to call out to me 

They don't often build porches like they used to. 

This was my friend's house with its wonderful porch.  

She recently moved to 100 year old cottage 

on the same street--still with a great porch!

as I walked by with our newborn son. That friendship has thrived more than 20 years and counting! Through the years we spent endless hours 

My friend is a true Porch Master--her new porch is always welcoming and beautiful.

sitting by candlelight on her expansive, historic porch sharing stories and an occasional bottle of wine.

The southern porch is the quintessential place to visit with your neighbors. It is often the place of stolen 

kisses or the place to enjoy the morning's first cup of coffee. I have a true fondness for porches. 

Coleman Cottage was our home for ten years. A 100 year old Victorian, it had both a side porch and front porch complete with porch swings on both. One of my daughter's favorite memories is of us sitting cuddled up on the porch swing as a thunderstorm approached.  

We liked to listen to the thunder and watch the lightning dance across the sky. Sometimes, we simply sat together and watched a much needed rain soak into the parched ground in our north Texas yard. 

A wonderful porch on an old timey "dog trot"
style historic log house in Independence, TX.

There was no television, radio, phone, or computer. Simply our loved ones to share the moment with. It's such a simple thing, yet so difficult sometimes to unplug from the world and simply be together.

One of my favorite books, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells, captures southern porch culture so well,

"I want to lay up like that, to float unstructured, without ambition or anxiety. I want to inhabit my life like a porch."

This lovely passage is the basis for a design seminar I 

will be presenting from 10:30 - 11:30 a.m., Thursday, June 6 at Hermann Furniture. The presentation is free, but reservations are required. If you've ever wondered how to create an inviting porch or garden room, I'll be offering ideas on how to select and combine color and styles, repurpose vintage items, and inject tons of personality into this common space between the street and  your home. Following the design seminar, I'll be signing copies of First Monday Murder A Jimmie Rae Flea Market Mystery from noon to 1 p.m. By the way, 

 the early drafts of FMM were written on our porch! 

Until next time, 

Peace, love, and all the good stuff, sweet friends!