Not Letting the Mean People Win

I got to start the day with a rather nasty email from one of the "don't paint that" crowd, followed by an email from ebay that I am violating policy by linking to this blog (they are supposed to tell me if I can keep the link or not later), all before the coffee is even brewed. Still, I've decided to count my blessings rather than my irritations, so here is the good stuff--


Last night, we took the girls to the Dubuque County Fair to see Bridgit Mendler. For those without teen and tween girls in their home, she is a Disney star from Good Luck Charlie, and she gave a really nice concert, good to see a happy concert with good music and good values. My husband's mom had dinner for us before the concert, very nice of her, as we had to run out before the dishes were done. His dad always saves all his newspapers and shipping boxes for me, so I have a carload of shipping supplies still to unload from the car.

This morning, as I'm on hold with ebay, the girls made breakfast and even got out the little espresso pot and made us iced lattes that we added chocolate peppermint syrup to, it was pretty darn good, and just another little reminder of how lucky I am that my children and I found each other from across the planet. Who would guess a poor girl from Iowa would end up travelling to China to meet the loves of her life? All in all, I think I have it pretty good! Here are the girls in "pretend Italy", our hotel in Florida when we went on vacation.

A'Haunting We Will Go

What to do during the July heatwave? Think Hallow's Eve of course! I just got this wonderful scale at Sisters yesterday (wonderful husband also bought me the most perfect antique cherub statue as well, will photo her later)and it is so perfect for my witch's pantry, here are some results of my stay-out-of-the-heat labors...

The Milk Paint Test

I bought a new brand of milk paint, and the jury is still out on whether I'll buy more. I love this robins egg color, but the paint is a bit of a nightmare, it really does not want to mix with water and is a chemical base, think I need to go back to the all natural stuff. These are pretty anyway!

Bishop Hill at Last!

I always want to go to the annual July antique show in Bishop Hill, Illinois, and finally made it this year. It was wonderful beyond compare, not a single piece of junk to be seen, so many lovely early primitives, it was heaven. Here is a little sample....

Independence Day Prims

Another 4th come and gone, another year I fell asleep before fireworks as we got up so early for all the antique shows. No rain and not terribly hot this year, the shows were good, but I thought the dealers weren't as decked out in red white and blue as usual. My favorite dealers did not disappoint, though, and I found some absolutely wonderful prims, farm fresh, as they say! My favorite purchase--a bag of 1800s blue calico scraps--I have been in wrapping-the-antiques heaven, as you can see.

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