What we did on our Spring Break vacation... Continued

Last week, I left you at the point where we were on our way home. We met my mother and her friend, Jerry, for breakfast at Bob Evans. We were packed and ready to go as soon as we were finished. 

Instead of going straight to Wytheville, VA where we had a motel room waiting for us, we had a detour to make, so our first destination was the South Charleston Antique Mall to meet Rita C. of Panopoly.

On her blog post of January 22, 2018, Rita made a loose proposal about a Lenten giveaway in the form of 40 boxes in 40 weeks which is usually done as giving away 40 bags in 40 days. You can read about it here. 

As the plans progressed, and Rita and I talked back and forth, I came up with a general list of things I like and like to collect. 

Then, things got really interesting when I realized we were going right by the town where Rita has several booths in an antique mall. So, our conversation turned to discussing a visit. We decided that the best time for us would be on our trip home, and Rita was free to meet then, too. We kept in contact during our trip south, so Rita knew our estimated arrival time, and we were right about on time!

The mall looked very interesting, so Katie and I started looking right away. Soon, Rita found us. She walked and talked with us and told us about some of the booths as we looked. She looked right along with us. She left us to look around on our own at times, and one time Katie sent her a phone message with a photo of a majolica piece that Rita had just finished telling us that she liked to collect. Rita came running down the stairs and was enamored with the piece. {Hey! Katie should have collected a finder's fee!} Soon, the piece was whisked away, and Rita had a happy smile on her face!

We collected a few things:

A collapsible ruler.

Iris Lace

Vintage lace, buttons, and a set of fish postcards.

Ceramic Wade figures.

 We made plans to go to a restaurant called Happy Days. It was a diner that was across the street. I had an excellent chicken salad sandwich, and Katie had a very tasty cheese steak sandwich. Rita had a small salad. We learned more about each other as we ate. We had a great time. Too soon, we had to leave to get to our half-way-home point in Wytheville, VA.

But wait!!! I forgot something!!!

Rita brought my package that she put together for the 40 boxes, 40 weeks giveaway. Once we got to our hotel, we opened the boxes. The first box contained a rather large bird nest. I think that was the first thing on my list. 

The other box contained all of these treasures:

This frog has an unusual texture.

This is a donkey bottle opener.

This is a table runner. We are cat lovers!

A collapsible ruler. I love them!

 

Rita included this specifically for Katie, as she collects Madonnas.

We had some happy smiles after opening those boxes. A very special thank you goes to Rita C. from Panopoly for thinking of us!

So, we went to sleep knowing we had a long drive in the morning. At about 5 am, I woke up, and so did Katie. After a short discussion, we decided to hit the road and grab some breakfast down the way later. After packing everything into the car, we were heading south at about 5:30 am. We arrived at home before noon. We unloaded, and Katie went to pick up Tan-G at the vet where he had to be boarded. I took a much-needed nap. Vacations do that to me!

Showing off here:
Share Your Cup #288  

From north to south, from family to friends ...and everything in between.

Fonda's Fabulous Funday Finds #2

It's no secret that I love to go to thrift stores, and here are the goodies I found at the ReStore in Ocean Isle Beach:

Weeds

I had seen this the day before, but I didn't get it. I had to run it past Katie to make sure she liked it. It's pretty large. And, of course, I couldn't stop at this one thing!

The thrifting goddesses were shining brightly. {Click to enlarge}

Katie collects Madonnas, so that's for her. Katie also needed the IN/OUT boxes for her desk at school. The basket in the back is for the cats, and so are the water filters in the blue package. The brown packaging paper is for my art or for wrapping gifts. The Warehouse plaque is for the door that goes to the garage. The "Fat Girl" book is encircled with cable cord. The round green labels are for a garage sale in the spring. The coffee pot is for Katie. She felt that using the Keurig at school created too much waste, so she was doing her part to reduce that waste by making coffee at home. Next to the Madonna is a loom.

The loom {Click to enlarge}

This is one of those rare times when everything was going to be put to use. Sometimes, I pick up things that don't have an immediate purpose, but I must have it. 

I hope you enjoyed going to the thrift store with me.

From the Madonna to the loom ... and everything in between...

Ridin' the Ridge — Spring Ridge, SC, that is!

Donna picked my wife, Katie, and I up from our motel in Aiken for a day of junkin', antiquin' and yard salin' fun.

Wooden nautilus

Our first stop on our way to Spring Ridge was a yard sale. I purchased only one specimen, which was a wooden nautilus. I thought this was kind of interesting.

We visited three places in Spring Ridge. The first place was Stuff & Things. This store was of the junkin' fun kind. Three full store fronts of nothing but Stuff...Stuff and Things, to be exact. There was no organization, and we had to look at everything. I looked slower than Donna and Katie, but I eventually caught up with them. I found quite a few nice goodies.

Stuff & Things

This photo doesn't do the store justice. It is so much more than this one dinky store front!

Leather baby shoes

Pink booties

I have to figure out how to remove the splotches on that left bootie. My own personal green organza booties have the same kinds of stains. Getting the stains out would make me very happy. Maybe someone can help?

Madonna

I found a Madonna for Katie. She was looking too fast. Good thing I was looking slow!

A basket of shells

Katie found a basket of shells. There were a nice variety. Even though we live near the beach, we don't find very good specimens, so this was a nice catch {snicker, snicker}. 

book

There was even a large selection of books. This is where I cut my time and finally caught up with my cohorts. I'm glad to have found this one, single, lone book. Truth is, I could have spent much more time in the book department, but I fell too far behind. Don't pay too much attention to my reading selection {heh heh}.


The second store we visited was Olde Treasure Antiques.

Olde Treasures

All I have of this store is the scanned-in business card. I guess Katie and I didn't purchase anything here. I may have my photos confused with the other stores we did visit.

YSS Antiques WAS in Spring Ridge and in close proximity to the others we visited.

YSS in the third store we visited. We found three white objects and a piece of wooden architecture.

Medical glove-making form

I have been wanting one of these for forever, it seems. I've always passed them up due to price, but this one was more affordable or I had more money to spend. I'm not sure which!

Madonna

This makes number two for this town!

Madonna planter

And, this makes number three for this town! Katie has been collecting for awhile, and she has amassed quite a few.

Architectural element

Isn't this gorgeous. If I didn't get it, Donna would have. Good thing I was a little bit quicker than she was on this. It's about 18" wide and about 2" thick. It's pretty heavy, and I love it. I don't know where it will end up. It will go above one door, but we don't know which one.

Ridge Antiques

Ridge Antiques was the last store to visit in Spring Ridge, and we found some nice goodies.

Old-fashioned goose neck lamp

I will be using this lamp to read in the bedroom while the Missus is sleeping. The shade has a lovely detail to it.

Wooden apple and pear

I have a nice collection of fruits and vegetables for the kitchen, and these will be added to it.

Roller skates

Look what we have here! A pair of roller skates that would be attached to the shoe. I had a pair similar to this. I still have my skate key, but it can't be used on this pair. Time to look for another key!

This concludes the stores we visited and the goods we purchased, but our trip was by no means over. Donna had a treat for us.

Peaches and Such

Lunch at Peaches and Such! We all had a sandwich, and for dessert, it was Peach ice cream all around. Peaches and Such also had jams and jellies for sale. These are some of the funnies they offered:

Traffic Jam

Frog Jam (Fig, Raspberry, Orange, Grape) and Moonshine Jelly

Toe Jam (Tangerine, Orange, Elderberry)

Those were some of the funnier jams and jellies. This is what we actually purchased to bring home:

Scuppernong is a grape.

The peaches were grown next door in the orchards. It was neat watching them grow.

And, that concluded our ride to the Ridge and back. Oh! One more photo:

The cargo hold was full.

Donna was good at filling up what we didn't. I think ours is the little pile all the way to the right. Donna has a couple of booths at Riverfront  Antique Mall in North Augusta, so she's always on the lookout for goods. We were on the lookout because we want to decorate our house!

Fun was had by all. I want to ride the Ridge again some day.

From NC to SC ... and everything in between...

♪ ♪ ♪ Getting to Know You ♪ ♪ ♪

It's about time I started another blog. {You can find my old one at Rush's Art and Other Curiosities.} 

So, for the first few entries, you will learn a little about my thrift store attraction. I won't say obsession, because it isn't that intense. There are wonderful goodies to be found at the thrift store. Some are useful; others not so much so. I like a little bit of both.

In and near my little town in near-coastal southeastern North Carolina, we are fairly rich in thrift, consignment and antique stores. Most of them support some kind of cause. Some are small chains, I think, like the CIS (Community In Schools) thrift store. Others are part of a large chain, like the Habitat for Humanity ReStores, of which we have 2 close by. One thrift store in particular supports the citizens of my county. 

There are three consignment stores. One is mostly larger pieces of furniture, some household goods, jewelry and designer clothing, and the other two are a conglomeration of all kinds of items from jewelry to decor and household goods to a bit of furniture. 

The Fancy Flea and Fancy Flea II are mostly vintage and antique goods.

Those are basically what is close to me. If I go a bit further away, there are more delights to be seen and had. And, since we must always visit some kind of store while away from home, those will also be included. If that's the case, I will give some information about that area. 

So, here we go...

BINGO! (7/28/16)

I love Bingo cards, wood calling numbers and wood space holders especially if they're old. I think there is a full set and two partials of calling numbers and a nice stack of cards. I will probably use these in my art.

*** Family moment: When my grandchildren were visiting last summer, they really enjoyed playing Bingo. I was surprised. It was something we could all do together, and we had lots of fun in the evenings as they began to slow down.***

BOOKS! (7/28/16)

My wife, Katie, and I are avid readers. Correction: I'm avid, and she's voracious. Katie can read up to four books at once! She "reads" books from her phone, and others she reads in their physical form. She may have one book going in the bedroom and one in the living room. I don't know how she does it. All of these books in the stack above seem to belong to her. My goal for this year was to read 50 books, but I hit a slump, so I'm behind. I may hit about 38 or 39. We'll see.

The above entries are the more interesting items I obtained from the ReStore in Ocean Isle Beach.

Globe, Madonna, hat pin holder, domed display (8/19/16 - My birthday!)

I had been looking for a globe for our library for ages. This one was perfect, and the $10 price tag didn't hurt at all. It was way up on the shelf, and I had to summons help to see the price and decide if I wanted to pay that much. Most globes are much higher priced, some going into the 40s and 50s.

Katie collects Madonnas. I don't know the present count, because they are all packed away. We will place them in our bedroom when we get that room painted and decorated. 

The hat pin holder will go into what we call the "Sweet Room". It also needs to be painted and decorated. The domed display is almost ready for use in the library, which is painted, and most of the decor is in place.

I found all of these goodies at the Fancy Flea.

Happy New Year to everyone. Make this year count. You and I have some work to accomplish in the next 12 months. One of mine is to blog on a regular basis. I also want to journal. It's been a long time since I've done that, too. I think of more things to work on. Maybe you will, too.

From Bingo to books to globes...and everything in between...