Budget Minded Modernist
Just a photo dump of what we’ve been up to when I’m (clearly) not here. Sadly it’s almost over…school starts back next week…WAY too soon.
We’re trying to make the most of our last 9 days of freedom…long walks in the woods, Shark Week, lounging at the pool and not getting out of pajamas on rainy days…they grow up too fast to consider otherwise….
Sorry for the amount of time it has taken me to follow up on the Brimfield fail.…I won’t bore you with excuses.
So my take away after 6 hours of tramping up and down the market…..two, or four things depending on how you view pairs.
The orange enamel brass and wood candle holders and the turquoise color tile beads. They were at least good value…$15 for the enamel pieces and $10 for the 2 strands of beads. I think I might have spent more on lemonade that day, but I’m not sure…I drank a LOT of lemonade that day.
….and NO, I’m not getting all born again on you people with the cross beads. I just liked them, and I thought the symmetry of the shape made it OK and not “I’M A ROSARY!” Not that there’s anything wrong with that…..just not what I’m going for here.
News? I’ll be moving out of the Downtown Antique Mall at the end of August. What will I do with my stuff? Wellllll…there might be a little collaboration in the works for a Pop-Up/Mini Flea this fall, but details are not finalized. Stay tuned…it will be fun and I think our local readers might be pleased with the plans….
That’s what I had for the Brimfield Antique Show and it didn’t deliver for me, or my companions. All 3 of us had waited our whole junkin’ and thriftin’ lives to attend this antique mecca, this patchwork of purveyors, the holy grail of thrifting…..only to hold back tears of disappointment. Actually, it was sweat pouring down our faces from the 94° heat, but this is a tale of woe, so work with me here.
Luck is where preparation meets opportunity, right? We were vacationing a 2 hour drive away from the market when we realized the summer show was going to be on during our stay. We were prepared to do anything necessary within our means to have the opportunity to hit this market, even if only for one day. After a little begging, pleading, and bribing of the appropriate males to entertain the Things and the other youngsters for the day, we were off.
I saw some wonderful things….
Can I tell you how much I wanted these? Sonneman maybe? Doesn’t matter. At 11:45 am I am told the seller is done for the day and he’s just minding her stuff. Nothing is marked of course, but I can bet it was out of my league. I thought about them ALL DAY. I even went back an hour later just to see if maybe she was there so I could talk to her about them…and she was gone daddy gone. Just a patch of grass left.
By the end of the day, I felt like this guy….
I hear you…what’s the problem? Â Looks like some pretty cool stuff, right?
Shall we discuss the pricing involved at this market? It was RETAIL. This is no longer a market for dealers, unless you’re a 1st Dibs dealer. It became obvious early on I needn’t have spent so much time scouting out the UPS booth. New England pricing did not fit into my frugal Nashville budget.
To quote my companion…”Do you hear that sound? That’s the sound of my heart breaking.”
We adopted that as our mantra of the whole experience. So we left, with a couple of tiny things, but nothing compared to our great expectations.
We were grateful to return to the cool breeze off the water at the end of such a long, hot, sad day.
Thrifting FAIL.
Did we go back to England?! Nope. Try the Tennessee Renaissance Festival. There is a “castle” in the middle of the Tennessee countryside, just down the road from the Tractor Supply, (aren’t they all?) with a complete set up for the month long festival. The Things and I decided we needed a little adventure over the holiday weekend, so we headed out to Arrington, TN to check out the fayre.
Sadly, we didn’t take the castle tour this year, so no snaps…that line was crazy long.
If you’ve never been to a Renaissance or Medieval Festival, you need to fix that. Treat yourself. The people watching alone is worth the price of the ticket. Carnie GOLD. The Things were captivated, and even a bit scared at times, but in the end we had a HUGE time.
When we saw this guy…all I could think of was this. That song was stuck in my head ALL AFTERNOON.
The fairies/elves were everywhere…we were in love with the ears…..
I wouldn’t be a true patron of the festival if I didn’t partake in a little something…..maybe even something that might embarrass my kids?
Indeed, it is.
Turns out they LOVED it. Gotta try harder next time.
This is it..I swear.
Soooo….we’d had enough countryside…we had some urban needs. London calling and we had 2 days to hit the highlights…strap on your comfy shoes.
Pretty buildings, and uniformed people in funny hats……
Speaking of those in uniform…security is so much more apparent. Remember the old joke about the bobby chasing the criminal? “Stop!… or I’ll say stop again!” I don’t think that’s a problem anymore. Check out the size of that gun. He also had one strapped to his upper leg. Granted, this was in front of 10 Downing Street.
Oh, and while we’re taking about the size of guns….I think Henry VIII was quite proud of his….
….and the Crown Jewels, (obvs not THESE) no snaps for you…no cameras allowed near the shiny diamonds…boo.
Moving on to the final stretch…ART!
We had just enough time to hit the 5th floor and part of the 3rd floor of the Tate Modern.
The way the Things lingered over the Do Ho Suh Staircase, I thought maybe it was their favorite. Video of the artist interview and this piece’s installation are here and here.
Nope…in typical young boy fashion, they both liked Lichtenstein’s Whaam! best….
photo via wiki – I didn’t snap this one…of course mom forgets the fave.
Since it had only been installed 2 days before…we felt obligated to go check out the new Picasso, heralded as the most expensive piece ever sold at auction. $106 million and change in case you were wondering.
Warm beverages on the top floor of the museum with the killer view and we were DONE.
Our feet hurt, and it was time to go home. Back to school on Monday in the land of the 2 syllable monosyllabic word.
So we decided to be road warriors again and drove down to Bath….
The weather was back to being predictably gloomy……
I’ve always loved this town for the architecture, but time was short, so we went strictly to get our Roman on…..
Oh, oops..not that….how about this?
So very much to see…but travel photos are BORING. I’m trying to minimize your pain. Let’s finish up with a little druid action…driving from Bath, we arrived 10 minutes before closing, so it was a hectic, yet hilarious end to a jam packed day.
We were kinda punchy at this point, running madly around the rocks, as the uniformed guides were attempting to herd us out. “Closing time!” = Could you tiresome Yanks just please GO AWAY.
Next time I”m bringing my hooded cape….showtime! They have no idea.
