Flea Market Friday

I know, I’m posting it on a Saturday, but I have my reasons. I’ve been running a bit behind schedule ever since my car started giving me attitude. Right as I hop in the car to go hook up with Kathy and Bri at the Flea, I discover that the battery is dead, so no flea for me! Luckily, After failed jumpings, towings and battery replacing, I was back in business by early afternoon so I made it in the end.  You’re welcome.

I saw Rae there and introduced myself, which is always weird because you feel like a stalker when you meet someone whose blog you read, but there it is!

OK, I’ll shut up now and let you preview the flea. It’s April, which is one of the biggest markets all year…both the Swine Barn and the Mule Shed were packed with vendors.

 

OK, we might have to discuss this one. It was rubbery and bizarre. It was in the same booth as this guy, so…. ’nuff said.

Kathy, I’m sure you saw these…but in case you didn’t…

 

I loved that dress.  I tried it on over my clothes and it was hard to tell if it would work or not without a mirror or anything. Kinda wishing I had gotten it anyway.

There was a vendor there who only comes once a year, and she had some of the most beautiful textiles.  Turkish woven rugs and suzanis….I wish she would come more often.

There was also a Japanese Maple vendor I hadn’t seen before…beautiful selection.

There were 11 of those chairs earlier in the day.

Did I get anything? Well, I did some shopping for others, which was my main goal, so I can’t reveal those yet just in case the recipients are reading.

However, I did decide I would join the millions who have owned and admired the most famous Chinese lady in the world. I KNOW, but I’ve always loved her, always wanted an old one…. and yesterday was my chance. This Vladimir Tretchikoff is The Chinese Girl aka The Green Lady. I loved reading about how the model and VT met up again 40 years later.

 

Her frame needs cleaning up, but I’ll get her back in shape and placed somewhere soon.  Have a great weekend!

Tweets of the Week

HemLoft

As one who appreciates treehouses, I was reading about commando tree dweller Joel Allen in this article and then snooped around his website last night right before bed.

Amazing craftsmanship, and a great story…although I have a hunch it isn’t going to end well.

Despite all the wonders I saw of how he conceived and built this place, and the beauty of his secret, illegal location…all I could think about as I came in and out of sleep in my dreams last night was HOW DOES HE SLEEP THERE? NO ONE CAN SLEEP IN A CURVE ALL NIGHT. SURELY A HAMMOCK?!!?? This snapshot of crazy is why I don’t watch crime/police shows after 9pm…it gets into my head and then I’ll dream all night of the murdered kid on Criminal Minds…btw, there’s ALWAYS a kid involved somehow and I hate them for it.  I digress.

I looked at every photo and video, and while we can see he manages to cook there….NO SIGN OF SLEEPING. More importantly, why does it bother me so much? I’m sure there’s a simple answer, but last night, I NEEDED to know.

Go check it out and tell me how he AND his girlfriend can sleep in there.

Tweets of the Week

Craigstweeting

While Craigstweeting today, I found something I couldn’t resist.

 

WHAT?! More chairs? Ummm…Yes.

*holds head in shame*

As for rehab- it’s mostly surface rust, so I brought out my trusty and crusty friends to help.

 

Once I got to work, I found a few spots that required the cola treatment. Sigh. That just added another hour to the job. The not-leather, but pleather had only one tiny nick on the backside, so yeah for that!

 

They cleaned up pretty well!

Currently, they are in the dining room heading up the table. I’ve now got my Burke/Saarinen knock offs as side chairs ever since the galvanized ones have moved outside.

 

I’ve been hunting for the perfect set of 8 Baughman beauties for almost 2 years now, but those don’t come cheap, so patience is been a virtue I must pretend to have.

Have a great weekend!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that while I was in Brimfield last Summer, I fell for a pair of these, but they were $495 for the pair.

 

 

 

Movie Screen

Our previous outdoor movie screen was a pitiful, shabby eyesore that required a ladder, 2 people and 20 minutes to install. We had stapled a sheet between two pieces of lumber that were then mounted to the trees. Because of the bulk, it had to be stored in the basement where it would get dirty, but I couldn’t wash the sheet because it had 500 million staples attaching it to the “frame”. This kind of inefficiency makes me grumpy.

Enough was enough and it was time to improve upon what had clearly been haphazardly slapped together 2 years ago. I wanted something that could be put up in minutes by one person, and could be tossed into the wash.

 

I thought I was SO clever getting a rubber backed drop cloth because it would be so durable, and the matte rubber would be a nice projection surface. We opened the package only to find 2 honkin’ SEAMS running through the middle. NO CAN DO. Scramble time and it’s Target to the rescue with a double sized sheet cut down and hemmed. Add grommets and bungees to affix to the trees and we’re done. No ladders, no drama, and if a bird poops on it…NO PROBLEM.

Sorry for the poor photos (again) my DSLR battery ran out, probably because I’ve been neglecting it so.

 

 

Turns out the canopy ties didn’t work-too small, so we used the regular kind of bungees. The canopy ties are great for fort building though, so we’ll keep those after all.

We didn’t return the drop cloth either, and instead used it underneath the brown picnic blankets to act as a moisture barrier so the blankets and pillows all stay dry from the dew.

 

 

There were 10 boys who didn’t care one bit about a new screen, but were just thrilled to kick back with some popcorn and enjoy the show.