If at first you don't succeed...

I hammer a lot of spoons, so as you can imagine, I screw a few up.  And of course it never fails, I screw up one that I think is gorgeous. At first when I would screw up I would cuss up a storm, throw it in a box with the other screw ups and move on to the next spoon. 

My first attempt at trying to make something of my screw ups were the key chains. And they worked pretty well and sold pretty well. Then one day I screwed up a spoon I REALLY liked. I was to say the least very, very unhappy with myself.

So I tossed it in the screw up box, then pulled it right out again, cut off handle and made myself what has become my favorite necklace pendant. And I wear it a lot, and get a lot of compliments and comments on it. So, back to the box of screw ups I went, and for the next Farmisan Market I will have a selection of spoon handle necklaces! 

Pretty fun!  Recognize those spools?

And now you know what those spools were purchased for.  Pinterest idea, I thought this was a fun way to display necklaces.

We will see how these sell at the next Farmisan Market. I will still have some key chains, but I suspect the necklaces will sell better than the key chains did.

I am going to be working on new stock for this months market, so I expect to have several new necklaces to sell as well, LOL.

Still a lot of rain here in the South, I may sneak in a swim before the next round of thunderstorms roll in! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Must be the season of the peach....

Peach season is here!

One of the many things I love about living in the South is living so close to the source of fresh Georgia peaches. I follow "The Peach Truck" on Facebook so I know where to get my fix each week until the season ends. This year they are even joining us at The Farmisan Market in June! Love that I will just have to stroll across the walk way to grab my bag of peaches for the week. Did I mention they sell pecans as well? Delish!

This past weekend was the first weekend for Peach Truck sales. And as usual they were well worth the wait!

My family loves peach cobbler, but on Sunday night I was pretty tired so instead I made some homemade vanilla whipped cream to top some fresh sliced peaches. 

It was so good, we did not miss having cobbler, but it is on the menu for this weekend for sure.

My baby Robins left the nest this week, I miss them already, but, with them gone I can now get close enough to my Hibiscus tree to take a picture without Mama Robin freaking out at me because I am getting to close for her comfort.

I hope you are having a great week!

May Flea Market

I love how the May Flea Market typically lands on Memorial Day weekend. I always take the Friday before Memorial Day off anyway and hitting the Flea Market is a great way to start a super sized extra long weekend.

 It was a beautiful morning to spend at the Flea Market. Lots of vendors.

And I found a ton of stuff, this drink set was adorable. There was more Jadeite and Pyrex than usual, although nothing that was on my wish list. I am not sure what is wrong with me, but, this is the second month in a row that I felt like there was very little that I saw that I just had to have. Nothing on my wish list. I even passed up a couple Jadeite grill plates, not over priced, but not bargain priced either. No tingle of excitement, I passed on them. A set of Jadeite salt and pepper shakers, bargain priced but so faded and missing the caps. I almost grabbed them, but then decided, nah, I would rather pay more and get them in better shape. Maybe a mistake, but I usually start to feel non buyers remorse pretty quickly, nope, have not given them a second thought. Some other cool stuff, priced well, but again, I just was not compelled to purchase. Maybe I am just so focused on my "wish list" and that is why nothing else is catching my eye lately.

Now, don't think that I left empty handed.

We have a pretty large collection of brass animals, I found this adorable tiny kitty for my daughter, We decided that she could sit next to our brass bull dog.

 Sorry for the bad picture. I loved this Atlas Strong Shouldered Blue Mason jar, Perfect condition,  I have never seen the graphics or this size I knew I had to have it. I did a quick Ebay search when I got home and found one just like it in perfect condition listed for 35.00. Wow, I paid 5.00. 

Of course I picked up some flatware. The large serving spoon will get hammered onto a sentiment spoon, the rest, into my stash they go.

I love the tippy taster spoon. What the heck was it originally used for? Baby spoon?

 The cake server was so pretty, and we think the little spoon with the star is a Mason star. It is marked Norway, we are going to do some additional research on this.

And vintage wooden spools. These were actually on my "wish" list. Why? Well that is for another blog post :)

This pitcher, love at first site. A Tang pitcher, I think from the 1970's. I know the etched Lily design is supposed to have a white top, but all they had was the orange. I think I will add finding a white top to my list. They are such a handy quart size, I may have to find another one to use. Like everything I pick up, I use it. This one is the perfect size for my Tazo passion iced tea. I scrubbed it as soon as I got home and it has been in use non stop since. I have been drinking a lot of tea this weekend.

And an update on my porch babies! Are they not gorgeous? Sniff, sniff, they grow up so fast. It will not be long before they leave me. We have had so much fun watching them grow.

We are enjoying a nice quiet long weekend, I have had plenty of time to sit in my spot under the tree, but the pool is still too cold for me and it sounds like bad weather will keep us out of the pool again tomorrow. I guess I will have no choice but to work on some projects. I can't say that upsets me too much, I have had kind of a creative dry spell the last few weeks, but I feel like it is coming to an end and I am itching to work on a couple new projects.

Hope you are enjoying your long holiday weekend!

Be safe!

 

Sometimes they come back....

I had no plans to plant tomatoes this year, but sometimes being a lazy gardener can pay off.

When I went out to weed and plant my flowers, I found that my black cherries had self seeded.....quite successfully, it may be a bumper crop.

So I modified my flower garden plan just a little bit and am looking forward to some delish black cherry tomatoes for this summer. 

We have some visitors on our front porch this season, I love watching the baby birds!

Cannot leave you without a Wednesday flower shot can I? I love how my knock out roses have grown around this little blue bird box. No baby bluebirds in this box this year, after being the home for literally countless baby blue birds over the last 12 years, the house has for some reason been abandoned for about a year and a half now. Not sure why they wont go into it anymore, maybe a good scrub and a coat of paint will attract some new tenants!

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Vintage pretty ladies things

We are heading to a friends wedding this weekend, and while planning what I wanted to wear, I realized how many vintage pretty "ladies things" I actually have.

I decided to wear a basic black dress so I could get away with as many of my vintage accessories as I could. I love the beaded 1960 clutch, not something I can get away with using everyday so I am excited to carry it tonight.

 

I have a minor obsession with vintages brooches, I have quite a collection now, and I do wear them all the time. Scarves and brooches, my favorite accessories.

 

For the wedding, I decided to go with my pearl brooch, but it was a very tough call. If I could get away with both I would.

Animal activists, avert your eyes, because, yes I even have some vintage minks.

 I love the mink wrap, It is one of my favorite pieces, it dates back to around late 1930's, the collar's I am not so sure, they are a mix, I think some are older but some are probably 1950's I love wearing them with a rhinestone brooch and a sweater.

I decided to tuck a vintage hankie in my purse as well, and was a little shocked to see just how many vintage hankies I have...ummm...a lot.

 

A little better shot of my wrap. I was hoping to wear it to a musical and dinner out with my girlfriends this past winter but we never did decide on a show, but this winter for sure!

Well I better get my pretty "ladies" things on and get ready for this wedding!

I hope you all are having a wonderful spring weekend!

My spot

Once the summer comes and the weather is warm enough, you will find me in one of two places, in the pool or sitting in my spot.

My favorite spot in the yard is underneath my beautiful corkscrew willow tree. After years of trying and failing to find the perfect seating, I saw a tutorial on how to make a pallet couch on one of my favorite blogs. And I realized...that was exactly what I wanted, what I needed.

The goal was to find a "couch" large enough to sit comfortably with both my dogs, it had to be low so my Pug and elderly Pitt could easily climb up on it and still allow me space to sit with my books, sketch pads, notebook and computer. With specifications like that, making what I wanted was the only way to go. So after more than a year of talking about it I finally convinced my husband to make me one. And it is perfect. Much to his surprise. Honestly he thought I was nuts. but he liked it enough to make a second one for himself as well. I went pretty simple with the covering. Again another use for my many canvas tarps, They are darn handy things to have on hand. I threw this extra large tarp over some large cushions I picked up at Hobby Lobby, added a few pillows and done! Comfortable, easy to clean and to store during the week when not in use.

As you can see, I have also added my pallet coffee table. Just a small pallet on top of two goodwill picked plant stands. I like the look, but it is a little wobbly so I think we will break down and add some real legs. Having the coffee table is AWESOME! It is exactly what I needed. Makes the perfect place to put my drinks and snacks.

I am currently addicted to iced Tazo passion citrus tea. It tastes as good as it looks!

I had a lot of fun making my coffee table pretty for my Mother's day breakfast. 

 

  My husband was out of town and I am not one to want to go out on Mothers day so I made myself my favorite breakfast, loaded it all onto one of my favorite chippy vintage trays and took it outside to eat in my spot

.

It was a great way to start the day.

Oh and some exciting news!

My peonies have bloomed! Oh they smell so good. I love taking pictures of peonies and spring strawberries together, we have eaten or made jam out of the 8 quarts I picked up this past weekend so I will be heading back to the farm stand this weekend for more! Not that I mind!

Hope you are having a great week!

Enjoying the fruits of my labor

Not that making freezer jam is exactly labor intensive.

But oh so worth it. 

I did a quick Pinterest search and found a super simple freezer jam recipe from Martha Stewart, chopped up some strawberries and peacefully stirred as it bubbled away. 

I love to stir stuff, I can't really explain why, but I do.

This may be the best batch of strawberry jam I have ever made. Perfectly set, tastes like pure sweet spring strawberries. Is there anything better than fresh strawberry jam  and butter on lightly toasted sourdough bread?

Pure bliss.

I went back and bought more strawberries on Saturday so I have plenty left over, as a matter of fact I happen to be enjoying a bowl of fresh sliced strawberries over vanilla ice cream as I type. So darn good.

I spent a very quiet mothers day puttering around and getting much less done then I should have. An hour or two was spent sitting in my favorite spot under my willow tree with some passion fruit tea and my favorite buddy. We love sitting on our pallet couch.

I hope you all had a lovely Mothers Day weekend!

Jamming

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Strawberry season!

And they are amazing this year!

My plan is to make some freezer jam this weekend, actually I planned to make freezer jam with these, but then everyone came home and they are half gone now.

back to the farm stand tomorrow morning. No worries, happy to go!

My peonies are just about to bloom as well, any day now, I look as forward to them as I do Strawberries...oh and peaches...and tomatoes, and the pool.

Yup, summer if officially here!

Have a great weekend!

Another crock

I ran across another crock at my favorite indoor flea market last week. Damaged yes, but stable enough to house my ever growing flatware collection.

Up to four crocks. Hello, my name is Kristine and I have a flatware addiction.

I picked up these four pieces at the Flea Market last week, nothing horribly special, but I liked them. And yes, I use my "collection" everyday. I have my favorite's that I always grab , and I love using the really cool pieces when I treat myself. 

Speaking of treating myself. One of my favorite things to do as soon as the weather gets nice is to sit under my willow tree on the pallet couch my husband built for me last year. I finally got outside this weekend to start cleaning up my "spot"and planting my herbs. Today I built myself a little pallet coffee table and I am looking forward to spending my Saturday and Sunday mornings this summer sitting under my tree, listening to the birds while I eat breakfast and drink my diet coke, and you can bet I drag my favorite dishes and flatware out with me when I go. It will be so nice to have a little coffee table to use now.

I hate that I will have to wait a week to enjoy it, but enjoy it I will make no mistake!

Hope you have a great week!