Caprese

Almost time for the tomatoes to be picked, I'm figuring I have a little over a week before I pluck the first one off the vine. Not able to wait forever, I made caprese salad with a greenhouse tomato, ALMOST good enough, can't wait for the real thing. If you've never had caprese salad, try one today! Slice up a tomato, slice up fresh mozarella (get the fancy kind, really fresh, not the stuff you find in the Kraft aisle), toss on fresh basil leaves and sprinkle the best balsamic vinegar you can find on top. This is also great on top of a slice of toasted French bread, it is one of my kids' favorite foods, mine too of course! Here are a few more blues, promise to have other colors eventually....

Grace all able to see again, nasty bugs. Of course, never a dull moment, dentist today and another cavity for her, I despair of getting her teeth to do well.

I loved the covered dish story in comments, really cheered me up!

Don't Worry, I Was Raised Around the United Methodist Women

I think this bowl is a masterpiece of deception, the dry blue milk paint I added looks a hundred years old. The bowl is an oldy, at least 100 years itself, the gorgeous patina inside is original, the outside of the bowl wasn't so pretty, but lovely now with its new paint. I will always fess up to my additions, never fear, the church ladies taught me well! It's a good thing blue is so soothing, my Gracie got a bug bite, just one, and her face is swollen up so badly her eyes can barely open. We've gone from benadryl to bigger gun meds, swelling going down, but the poor thing looks like she's been in a fight. Of course, I spent all night staring at her sleeping instead of sleeping myself, so I am weary!

Hot Summer Sunday

July is definitely on the way, hot and steamy it is!~ I am anxiously awaiting my favorite holiday of July 4th, antiques, lemonade and hot dogs all day, fireworks to top the night off, the perfect day always. We drive to Solon, a few miles from us, there is a giant antique fair at Hanson's Grove there, it is always a gold mine of prim treasures. After wearing ourselves out there, it is down the road a bit further to Mt. Vernon, where we always visit Polly Ann's and Carolines Schoolhouse and Alice's Wonderland, but on the 4th, it gets even better as the streets will be lined with antique vendors. We usually fill up the car with our purchases, jolly the kids out of hating us for torturing them, and go home completely exhausted. Can't wait! In the meantime, I am slowly getting my Missouri and western Iowa prims done, here are a few examples of the buttermilk collection...

Back to Work at the Ebay Store!

I've been feeling so overwhelmed by my stack of prims to fix that I haven't known how to start, but just dug in today with getting photos done of the items that just needed a scrubbing and I think I'm ready to cope with the rest! For photos here, my little bouquet of tasting spoons was one of my buys at Gatherings this weekend, sorry, I'm going to be keeping those for the time being, might convince myself to sell later, but loving them too much right now! The other is my "garden", I do herbs and tomatoes in pots, with a few flowers thrown in, nice, but not in my sister's league!

Walnut Iowa Amvets Antique Show

Friday Saturday and Sunday was the giant antique fair in Walnut, a tiny town a bit untouched by time in west central Iowa. We walked for ever it seemed, for a little town, there were a lot of streets filled with antique vendors. I actually found great things to fix up and sell, even among the really high end dealers (we are talking over $1000 for a dough bowl, and no, I did not add too many zeros). Lots of good deals despite that, I'll be going through my boxes for days to get it all unpacked. Here are photos of the fair, hoping I'll have a few things cleaned off and ready to list tomorrow!

The Forgetful Trip

Well, I spent 2 days in Walnut Iowa, walking for what seemed like 300 miles of antique fair, took lovely photos, bought lovely things to sell. I packed up my bags in Clarinda, arrived home in Iowa City and spent the day luxuriating first in real espresso drinks from real espresso bar (ask for a cappuccino in small town America and see if you aren't sent to the local gas station for a dreadful drink from a packet machine!), then my husband suggested surprising his dad in Dubuque for Father's Day, with a promised treat for me of stopping at Gatherings in Anamosa. As always, I found wonderful prims, all beautiful and unusual. I just got home and sat down to download some photographs and realized I left my camera cord in Clarinda! Aagh! Now I have to go to Best Buy to get a new one tomorrow, thanking goodness I have a Best Buy to go to. Husband left phone charger there, so must get a new one for him. I also forgot to bring a pillow I sold, now must face disappointing a customer, don't like that at all. I'd better go check and make sure I paid the light bill....

My Sister's Garden

Kathey got the green thumb in the family, actually she just works harder than the rest of us to make her beautiful little oasis in the back yard. I love my flowers, but just don't make the effort she does. Isn't this beautiful?

My Building West Side of Square

Oh, missed getting my downtown building photo in, we are the little white one.

A Little Walk Around Clarinda

Clarinda is a town square town, I have early 1900s postcards that show it looking pretty much the same. Businesses have definitely taken a hit, and too many buildings are empty and worn, sadly I own one of those empty worn buildings, hopefully to see new life this summer. Mine is the little white building with the blue trim, plywood over the windows. It does have a new roof and is gutted down to the old brick inside, new windows and floors are on the agenda this year, once it is finished, its going to be gorgeous. Glenn Miller Festival just started, so sad our Japanese orchestra will not come because of all the disasters their country has faced, hope to see them again next year.

The Colonial White House is the local B and B, prettiest gardens in town!

A Few More Photos of Our Day Out

I really wanted to get my lunch plate photo in, plus more Quilt Coop, her displays are so beautiful.

The Southwest Iowa Adventure Takes Us to a Church and a Chicken Coop

The girls and I headed over to Shenandoah to be "ladies who lunch" today. Small town Iowa usually is limited to some good diners, but lucky us, we have the Sanctuary--a church turned elegant restaurant. I even had to take a picture of my lunch--asparagus quiche and the Sanctuary salad, the odd but delicious combination of greens, bananas, cranberries and raspberry yogurt.

After lunch, back to Clarinda, stopping out in the country just outside College Springs to visit the best little quilt shop in Iowa, The Quilt Coop. Chicken coop turned fabric store, this is why I love Iowa. It was shop hop day and we got there before the busload of quilters, whew!

Touring the Southwest Corner of Iowa

Life does move slower here in the middle of nowhere, but there are some wonderful hidden gems around the countryside, I'm going to have a little picture show every day of the good things to do here. Today we went to Henkeville Greenhouses, just outside Clarinda, bought a few flowers to brighten up the front porch. I love it there, it looks like Grandma's farm, with lots of gorgeous flowers to add to the ambience.