and the world goes round ...

i/we were fired from our job on monday morning .. i am shocked .. in 51 years, i have never been fired from any job .. i guess i took for granted that at 51, i was working for adults who responsibly worked through whatever problems arose .. heck, i didn't even know there were problems to work through .. not on a serious enough level to fire us .. i know there were issues but thought we were all working through them .. we were never written up .. every review/inspection we ever got, and there had been 2 a month since we came to work for the company in oct of last year, stated we were model employees .. we came in early and stayed late .. we treated the property like it was our own .. we were loved by our tenants .. i could speculate as to why we were fired, but i honestly don't know .. they wouldn't tell us .. the plain truth is that our new area manager did not like us .. and that, my friends, is the only reason they will ever need .. texas is an 'at will' state and they don't have to give you a reason ..
i feel as a child, pushed from the seat of a bus, to land promptly on my butt in the middle of the aisle .. they don't want to play with me anymore .. trying to understand what fault lies with me for my current predicament ..
oddly, i was moving toward walking away from the storage business .. maybe i created this myself by unleashing my creative energies .. maybe it is a natural progression with the advent of mercury in retrograde .. they say you create your world with thoughts .. but why did they feel the need to be so ugly about dismissing me/us .. and why attack rod also, he is super good at what he does .. i feel bad that he got fired also .. they have/had other teams that didn't work out and they kept one of the team .. so i could conclude perhaps they felt threatened by us in some way .. i can conclude, if you are a man, never argue with a frightened woman who sports black eyes and bruises like they were fashion accessories .. or i could conclude, they just didn't like us, plain and simple .. that is a tough one for me .. i like being liked ..
one thing that sticks in my mind .. during the firing process .. 'she devil' said 'how dare ya'll', when i informed her we would not be out of our apartment/home in the 4 days they were demanding .. i honestly don't know what i said in response, it was tempered, rod assured me, but i remember my lips moving and my face felt flush .. and i remember 'she devil' sticking her fingers in her ears .. yeah, like a third grade child refusing to listen .. that is when i had my 'rosie' moment .. the light bulb went off over my head and i knew instantly it wasn't about me .. there is a lesson here, and it is not mine .. God was using me to shine a light ..
and then i remembered, warrenton is around the corner .. don't know where we are going ..or what we will be doing .. but we are free .. free at last .. lol! love you guyz!

thoughts ..

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” T. S. Eliot


sometimes what burns deepest in us will find a way to surface ... my heart is a creative one ... my mind thinks of creating ... i have ignored it and tried to live a life that would appear as secure and stable ... it has not worked for me ... it has only left me feeling frustrated and caged ... some scary decisions are being made ... scary to me ... i believe that if you follow your heart ... if you answer the call within, you will find success ... unsure steps to a sure future ... wish us well and know that i will keep you posted ... we travel at some point this week to take steps in creating our future ... more info to follow ... thank you to those who continue to inspire and feed that desire ...

i have a secret.....

cow-ward ...

yeah, i am not much for sitting in the heat any more - i am a coward when it comes to sweating in the confines of a building with no air conditioning waiting for someone to decide if they need to spend their pocket change on my trinkets ...i am not sure what i feel about having 'done' the cattle barn flea market.. but I am pretty sure i am done ... we are scheduled to return to waco this coming weekend and bring a uhaul back to arlington after emptying out some storage buildings we have in waco ... i was excited about the opportunity to sell things in the cattle barn flea market and to be fair, i wasn't there saturday and my middle sister and her husband sold things for us ... they had a pretty good turnout ... rod and i went sunday and sales were ok, i bought more than i sold, which is always the case ... the buying there is awesome ... just couldn't bring myself to sell the good stuff as cheaply as some of the other dealers sell ... but, i am going to play out the next 2 weeks or so and see ... guess i have been in the business too long, but if i know i can get $15 on something by waiting for a specific show, why sell it now for $2 ... it was also way hotter than i expected and i forgot to bring a fan ... overall, i don't guess it was not that bad - i got rid of some things, i bought some cool stuff and... i now know that is not how i want to accomplish liquidating some of the things i have accumulated ...
so today we had a day off, sort of, from work - we didn't have to wear work clothes, though they still called us all day long and at the end of the day we have been working on stuff for our employer ... anyway, my middle sis drove us around ... we went to the montgomery street antique mall in ft worth - cool place - busy - but heavy on the 'antique antique' not very junk friendly - at least that i saw - lots of 50% off signs and the like - then we made our way back to arlington and my sister says there is a place she thinks we would like ... she winds us through an older area of arlington and we pull into an older strip center - not strip as in gypsy rose lee strip - but the old style shopping center of a strip of retail stores - this one was probably built in the 30s or so - just about 3 maybe 4 spaces all together - collected treasures was the name of the little shop and it is literally stuffed to the rafters - at least i think there were rafters, but i couldn't see them - the shop wizard - when i say wizard, stop in and you will see what i mean, this little lady is a wiz at everything - she paints, she upholsters, she creates, she decorates, she displays, she sells - her 'can do' attitude will charm you immediately - and i would say these things about her even if i didn't want to rent a space in her shop - i am submitting her photos of the things we do so she can decide if our styles will compliment one another - i didn't take my camera along or i would post pics, but you can see by looking at her website what a wiz she is at display - for now - i will leave you with pics of the cattle barn adventure - you really should make your way out there to shop soon - there is some awesome stuff there and it is all priced so reasonable -

no cows here - just us chickens ...

ft. worth cattle barns - barn #1. ft worth stockyards. it's a weekly flea market. if you want you can pay a monthly rate and leave your stuff there - many do. you have to move out during the stockyard show and during christmas time, from what we have been told. we set up there this morning. my middle sis, becky and her husband are running the space for us today, sat. and rod and i will be there on sunday. quite a few familiar faces. always, always a bargain hidden amongst the yard sale stuff. we brought just stuff to let go of, stuff to move out.. not trying for the nicest looking booth here... though there are some very nice booths ... i may strive for that once we get settled... who am i kidding, i know once i have the time to work the booth, i will decorate the booth... i must decorate the booth... i will post more pics tomorrow evening or monday ... but here are a few i snapped this morning, after unloading, to whet your appetite..

here we are ...

well we are now living in arlington, texas. we finally got our transfer to the dallas area. we got here on the 20th of june.
mostly, i am excited to finally be back among people i know and areas of texas that i am more familiar with. we have been working almost non-stop since we got here, but we were able to hit the flea market at the cattle barns in ft. worth yesterday.
we found a great little hull vase and a wonderful 1920s era tinted photo of crater lake. i think we will be keeping them. but, the exciting thing was - we ran into an old friend who sets up there who we used to set up next to at canton back in the 80s. she talked to us about selling at the cattle barns. so i think we are going to start selling there. i am stoked. we won't always be able to work there on sat. but my middle sis has said she would watch the place when we can't. you don't have to be there. you can leave your stuff there up until the stockyard show during jan/feb. and i think you have to move out right after christmas. but this should allow us the place to sell some of the stuff we have found and get our feet wet again.
oh, i also found a very nice piece of fabric with black background and tapestry design that looks like old needlepoint. $15 for the whole piece. i love it. it will make some incredible pillows or cover a chair - it's about 2 yards.

what i miss ..

as i said earlier, i miss dealing and working with 'stuff' - stuff we find and transform, stuff that allows us to be creative ... i have been sorting through old photos of the shows we used to do and ran across some of the pics of our booths and wanted to share ...it's harder than i thought it would be to let go of all that .. i think it gets in your blood and like grass stains, it just won't come out ..it may fade over time... but it is always there ... always lurking ... waiting .. urging you on .. go ahead pick it up and buy it ... you like it ... do it .. i miss getting ready for a show .. working till late into the night... spurred on by that quiet burst of creativity that makes you giddy with excitement ... wait till they see this, they will love it ... it probably won't last long enough to see saturday ...i miss the crowds ... the push, the rush to grab your treasures before anyone else can get to them ... the heads that peek into your tent late the night you arrive... just checking to see what you brought down .. the smiles ... the hugs ... where you been ... what have you got me ...did you see her booth ... love it! ...





i miss the shows ... setting up .. decorating the booth .. finding new treasures one field over ... meeting new people ...creating something from nothing ... starting a trend ...i remember our first warrenton show ... before there was a barW field ... before there was a clutter .. not to mention coles or even marburger ... we set up in a little field at the edge of warrenton ... everyone said - you think they will come over here - it's so far out of town ... it was the blue bonnet field ... run by a lady named karol and her husband, whose name slips my mind ... it was actually in the front yard of their home ... the show ran smoothly and there were never two people who cared more for their dealers than the two of them ... stellar ... we convinced an old canton tent guy to come up and put up our tent, he put up a few others for people also ... the first night we were there, we had high winds and rain ... we could see our tent bucking and rolling in the dark... as we watched from the safety of the front and back seats of our old chevy impala... we tied one corner of the tent to the front bumper and in the early morning hours were awakened when a burst of wind took our tent and flung it into the tree above ... flow blue every where ...karol and her husband where right there with us picking up the pieces ...that was our first warrenton ... but we met so many people and so many were to come through the years ... people you know by face ...the name slips your mind ... and that is ok ... you know them by what they buy ... what they sell ...you know them cause they sit and have a chat with you about how the show is going ... truth stuff ...so, my heart misses all that ...gotta find a way back ...
for a time we sold 'soap lady' soap and created a display presenting the soaps like petit fours .. under glass and all candy shoppe like .. sold the heck out of it ...



i used to slipcover old metal cushioned porch gliders ... sold my first one to judy hill in the late 80s ... she bought quite a few from us over the years .. this was one we did for warrenton .. our 2nd marburger show ..



this was a wonderful patio set with a concrete table top .. sold it to hallmark cards .. and delivered it all the way to kansas city on a trip to illinois a month after the show .. this was the hillcrest show in warrenton ..



garden on 5th st ... waco, texas ..outside garden show...filled old birdbaths with faux foiled eggs and soaps .. slipcovered folding chairs ..



warrenton .. marburger farms ..loved having flags and blue bonnet paintings in the booths ...

my house is a mess

i confess.. it has gotten out of hand .. it is a sickness ... i can't stop buying things, especially when i can afford it ... since we moved to houston and took better paying jobs, we have more money to buy things we see and like and feel are priced lower than we could sell them for ... if we were still selling ... one of the downfalls of having more funds, is having less time to do the things we love ... somewhere there is a balance ... right now, we are in a routine .. we close the office at the end of the day .. run errands for the office .. hit a few resale shops .. and head home .. unload .. and go to bed and start all over the next day ...in one of the pics i posted, there is a roseville vase in the mostique pattern ... i picked it up for 2.99 at one of my favorite stops .. i plan to keep it though i really don't need it .. it will be a nice addition to my roseville collection ... but the point is, i didn't need it ... nor any of the things i can't stop buying ... but could you / would you have NOT bought it when it was 2.99 ... then there are the things i find that are only 79 cents or 99 cents... the snowbabie picture frame was 99 cents...
i have to get a handle on this mess ... i have been packing some of it up little by little when i can find the time.. i just don't always have the time ...i miss doing shows .. miss decorating ... don't feel like i am really enjoying my house because of all the stuff everywhere ... i think i need to find an outlet in houston to sell... or get to dallas, where i know people who will sell stuff for me while i work 'real jobs' ...or create ... i miss creating ...

Easter decor -

decorated the office for Easter. i used some items from our personal collection. the rabbits belong to us. the basket i purchased at a goodwill for the office. filled it with plastic eggs that i filled with 'oops please excuse the late payment' cards that allows the receiver to have their late fee dismissed on their unit, candies, certificates for free locks, boxes and tape. i plan to give these to tenants who come to the office and pay their rent on time beginning the first of april. i also used a little basket for candies for customers and the little basket that is empty in the photos, i filled that with a sunny bouquet of daffodils i got at randalls grocery store 2 bunches for $6. on the stepdown of the counter, i used a big picnic basket i had and filled it with texas blue bonnets and dahlias. i think it turned out real nice and the customers seem to like it and it makes me feel good to have the place looking nice and homey.

cashmere passion ...

i have a thing for cashmere sweaters. i can't stop buying them at thrift stores and used clothing stores. i have stacks of them. i tend to buy the ones that are cream, grey, black and warm toned colors. i have v neck, crew neck, turtle neck, vests, cable knit and just plain comfy.
i remember my first cashmere sweater - listen to me, i talk about them like it should have been a memorable event. but i guess it was. i love the look of a sweater with a good fit. but, i hate the texture of most sweaters. they just plain itch. i can wear a cashmere sweater on a cool morning to brunch and feel wonderful. i have worn cashmere sweaters that are oversized and perfect for just laying on the couch and watching an epic old movie. there is nothing more enjoyable than a cool dark room, a Susan Hayward movie (Back Street), curled on the sofa, a down pillow, a bag of animal crackers, iced tea and wearing a cashmere sweater.
my first cashmere sweater - i bought with my mom at a church rummage sale. i was 15. the sweater was at least 20. i was drawn to it for the graphic diamond pattern - which is very much in style now - and when i picked it up, it was as if the heavens had opened up and sent down the lashes of angels to weave this heavenly creation. i was in love. i didn't even know what cashmere was and picture if you can a 15 year old country boy in a family of deer hunters conveying his excitement to his father. yeah. well, he loved me just the same.
so, i have a thing for cashmere sweaters.
i think i need to find a cabinet to put them in - preferably something with glass front doors.
p.s. old worn out sweaters also make great throw pillows.


the picture - that's a stash of this months sweaters. seriously.

part of the job -

today we have to cut locks on storage units of people who are behind in payments. i don't really enjoy this part and to his credit rod works with people every way he can and uses all the tools he has been given. so, if you ever find yourself behind in your storage payment - stay in touch with the manager. i know you may find managers who will not work with you - but working with you and letting you slide and not pay anything are two different things. always make sure you stay in touch with the manager of the storage facility where your stuff is stored. we are only cutting 4 locks today, but mostly locks are cut when phone numbers are disconnected, calls are not returned, mail to the address on record is returned and we, as managers of the facility, are basically avoided.
always let them know where you are, what you are doing and when you are going to pay. always. and never, ever put grannies quilt in storage. put excess clothes, extra furniture - but don't put sentimental things in storage. have them out in your home and enjoy them.

inspiration ..

i know inspiration comes in many forms. we all see something and it inspires us to create something based on that one item - that one piece - word - or movement.

as i was deleting and re-checking images i had taken with my phone camera, i ran across an image i had taken of a very interesting pottery vase.






maybe it is just me, but i have reason to believe that it could have been the inspiration for the dress miley cyrus recently wore to the oscars - what do you think?

the weekend

we had the storage auctions on friday and they went pretty well. i hardly had anyone trash the place, most of them picked up after themselves. that is always a blessing.

saturday morning we decided to hit a few shops around. didn't find much at the first place, but the second place we found some fun stuff.

a great wicker and wire plant or floral stand. i think it was used for weddings or funerals. and it came with a spare basket. we paid $9 for the lot.

two great indian pottery bowls - we paid $1 a piece.

a super looking striped wool blanket - $2. it has a few holes, but a wonderful softness.

a cute little hooked rug with bumble bees - $3. it's new but has a great look. i think it will look great in the spare / guest bedroom once we get settled. (gosh, i hope the new place has a guest/spare bedroom).

i have a thing for wood vessels - vases, bowls, trays and the like - i like the feel of real wood. found this interesting wood vase. marked on the bottom "c 99". rod said he thought it might be cactus. i don't know. i paid $2.

and a nice oblong and ornate silver plate tray on feet.$4

i didn't get any pics of the places we went shopping, but am going to try and do that.
we have been in houston since october and though we have seen and heard about carolyn thompsons antique center of texas - and we passed it a few times on the highway - we had never been there. we decided to stop in - well if you have never been, it is a treat for the eyes. i saw so much cool stuff but honestly for the most part it was much more 'michael jackson' than my tastes allow.


we have friends who have a store here in houston in the heights area - jur & becki van der oord. the name of their store in installations. we have known them for at least 20 years and have always loved their style. they used to also do the warrenton antique show and for years set up in the bar-w field right outside of town. they were like the first people in warrenton to have their own circus tent - they were right on the front row - if you went to warrenton you couldn't have missed them. cool people, cool stuff. and becki does some of the most incredible displays - very euro - very eye appealing - and you have got to see the things jur does with industrial parts and pieces - especially his tables. if you are in the area of their shop here in houston, stop and say hey. i took some pics, but they didn't turn out too well. they have the most lovable cats, who like to pose and purr.











you will love the upholstery work they do, which is in house - they use old grain sacks and upholster beautiful victorian or art deco furniture.

ok, out of everything i found this weekend what really excited me the most was the sweetest little sterling butterfly pin. she is marked 'sterling' and 'jez. laine'. it only measures about 1 3/4" long. don't know why i just think it is wonderful. i think it has to do with the fact you can see the handmade quality.

so you will know ...

last sat, we hit a local thrift store run by a church - they had lots of cool stuff - we could have spent more time there, but happened on it while headed to the grocery store - spotted this cool majolica pitcher - the pictures don't really show the contrast of the colors - it was priced $7, so we grabbed it. it stands about 10" tall and is marked on the bottom with a raised mark of a shield with a monogram inside the shield and then some other numbers. after doing some research i found out that is an absinthe / absynthe pitcher or pichet. see the little hole in the beak, that was so you could pour a very thin bead of cold/cool water over a sugar cube. you can read all about it at this website. i thought it was pretty cool and wanted to share, so if you see an old pitcher that has a tiny hole like that, chances are it could have been used for this. be sure and look at all the examples on that website. would love to hear if anyone else has more info on this.

also look for this to be kind of a regular feature on my blog - i love doing research on things i find. so keep an eye out for my posts. here are some more pics of this cute pitcher. excuse the mess of our apartment - we are in the middle of packing.

Auctions!! Friday Feb 27 1PM

we have self storage auctions taking place on friday - feb 27 - at 1pm - if you are in the houston area. we personally can't bid. which sucks. but there is one that looks like it is a really good unit. i know it has a coca cola cooler in it as it was at the front - and there is an old coat rack and stacks and stacks of boxes - this unit is family to the same guy who threw the mission table away. i don't know what is in there. when we cut the lock, all we can do is open the unit and take a photo from standing outside the door. we are not allowed to look through any box or even step into the unit. we have had 2 auctions since we got here, the last one had units going for $40 and $60 bucks. made me sick. there was some cool stuff. i did buy a little mission table off one guy who bought a unit, paid him $6 bucks.
anyway, if anyone is interested in coming - email me and i will send directions or just call the number on the website and rod will give you directions.

laterz.

a different road, the same journey

it's been that long - wow - i miss writing, releasing -
rod and i took jobs with a self storage company in houston - it's been an experience - but it has kept us so busy that i have had little to no time to write
- i miss that
- so much going on with family also
- it's been so long since i created anything.

i havent' found that much stuff in the units i have cleaned out. the 1st week we were here someone threw away a nice old round mission oak pedestal dining table - the finish was worn and the pedestal needed to be reglued - and one corner edge was missing, about 1/2" wide.
but, the pedetal was that great tapered style pedestal.
pulled that right out of the dumpster. crawled right up in there and grabbed it. also found a great old department store mirror with a painted scene above a door length style mirror.
not much else - bits here and there -
but let me tell you the thrift stores have been a gold mine - we have found some of the coolest stuff - majolica, silverplate, crystal, basketry, fabrics - my mind is reeling and i am running out of room.
the company we work for is agreeing to move us to the dallas area - which is what we wanted all along - long story - so we have been collecting stuff.
- when we came down, our excess stuff filled one large 10x20 storage unit - since Oct we have added another 10x20 and a small 10x10. there is a goodwill near here where i got an antique style - i think it may be baker, or that quality - bamboo side table for $8 - well $7.99. my only complaint with the store is they mark everything with black markers - everything has a price sticker - 2 or 3 and then hash marks in black marker - usually on the bottom - but like i found a steiff teddy bear - jc penny 200 anniversary - but cute and jointed and looking all old - $2.99 - on his butt was a black III.

so, this blog may make a slight directional turn. i will try to add pics of the things i find or create from time to time, but i am also going to be talking about the self storage business. some of the characters we have met just since Oct would make your hair stand on ends.

later guyz and hope to see you all around.. i have been keeping tabs on your blogs - esp you t.

toe
Oh, take a look at the website I created of our storage place - and some of the decorating I have done in the office. also take a look at our flickr pics.