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.