Oh My! it is November!

Hello dear friends and family! I have "Chris-ma-tized" my little booth at the Brew and Browse...for the Christmas Open house just this past Thursday! Busy busy time....I created a "theme" (My dh asked me, "Why a theme??? Your booth is just 3ft. square!" ) He is so right, but I do love to have some kind of structure to my display....so, the "theme" is: BEGIN A TRADITION....CREATE A MEMORY.

You can see here that the space is very limited, Miss Eula always looks ready to party!

My little tree filled with Bonne Motes. They were fun to make, hope someone buys them!

Oh, here's is a nice cloudy skyline of my home town...Kansas City, Missouri. After War Eagle, my sister and I headed to KC where she lives. My folks live there also. I had just Monday to do some "KC STUFF"

I was able to visit the new Nell Hill's store...breathtaking.....over-the-top!!! Must see for any and all in the KC area.

Of course we had to have Bar-B-Q and this place was the "Nell Hill's" of bar-b-q!!!

Need I say more???

Now, I am back in NC and enjoying our annual Cary Band Day. The above is a photo of our Grandson's marching band. It was a beautiful day in the 70s, full sun no clouds. wow, the 50th anniversary band day for Cary, NC!

As you can see the colors of the trees are at their peak too.

This is Woody's band again.

We are proud band boosters.

Oh, and here is our youngest grandson Zion, as a sloth! What a great program his class presented this week too. Am I blessed or what???

So, this gives you a bit of an idea about where I have been and what I have been doing. Also got my annual mammogram. all's well on that "front". Not a whole lot of big news here other than, oh, the results of the election. Congratulations to all....and I am glad it is over. I sometimes think that I can make a difference, but am fairly cynical when it comes to politics, so the intensity of the past two years just wore me out. Let's get on with it!

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cathy

I am back from "the War".....
What a great time once again down in Arkansas with all the ladies shopping! My mission was to find "the" hat! Well, I found two, wonderful, cool, classy, cute, very 20s hats, so I felt I achieved success. I also found a cute bird house, a neat button pin and earrings, a Christmas angel, a snowflake and a tiny pink pig, a wonderful pin cushion (which I think I have lost...boo hoo), sugar scrub, old very very old sheet music (as in 1904) and a tie-dye t shirt and a lovely mantle scarf....oh, I think that is about it. OH, a Sarah Palin T shirt too. We laughed and ate and had an all-round great time, wish you were there! Maybe next year............
Now, back to the real world. Today I go back to the dentist for my permanent crown, sure hope it is a short visit. My tmj was really awful this time, but thank goodness, no huge pain for a week now....yea!
Getting ready for a Christmas open house at the shop where my booth is located. That will be Nov. 6. Am trying to talk the dh into a road trip to KC for Thanksgiving again this year....we will take the dog this time! Also hoping to get to NYC before Christmas to help a friend celebrate a big birthday! So, I have a whole lot of persuading to do..................................yikes
I have a neat slide show on phanfare, check it out...
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cathy

A Tea Party!

Good Monday morning friends!
This past Saturday my Daughter-in-law Jacki and I gave a baby shower tea for our friend Carolyn who is due to have her baby on Oct. 31! To celebrate this new addition to the family we invited friends for tea, of course! The colors we chose to use were soft green and violet as the gender of new baby is unknown to us.

Made these cute little cupcake flags from Tracey's kit you can click on the photo for a closer look.

Jacki is a tea party champ, she knows how to entertain in style!

Our "Hello Baby" banner and the tea trays ready to serve!

I made this vintage banner for Carolyn, that's Linda filling the cups with "mock" Devon cream and jam for the scones!

Here's another shot of the food...that's scones on the bottom, savories in the middle and sweets on top!

Here's how the table looked. A huge table seated 14!

Carolyn and Jacki




Below is a phot of another tea party event! I was fortunate to be invited to tea with these ladies last week. We had tea at Lady Bedford's Tea Parlour in Pinehurst, NC....wonderful!

After tea, we remembered to get a photo to remember the wonderful event and the good time we all had that afternoon. A very special thanks to Pat for treating us all to a very fine tea party!

Now, today I have a busy schedule...since I have been "waiting" for several things to happen and two at least have happened...I can begin to make other lists of things I need to accomplish!

1) I did not get my proposal accepted for the World Tea Expo, so that is now behind me. I admit at first I felt rejection...but that is silly, they have their reasons for choosing and while I know my proposal was perfectly acceptable, for their reasons they did not choose it, not because they don't like me...so I am over it!

2) My pain issues are lessening, while not gone, I am getting better little by little and for that I am extremely thankful.

So...today I go back out to my booth at the Brew 'n Browse and add more stuff! I will pick up a box of tea items from Jacki and also drop off some things for the Goodwill (Paul and I did a big closet clean-out over the weekend and have nice organized clean closets!)

I will take back to KMart a Martha Stewart bed spread I bought on sale for $24, since I purchased the same one marked down to $10 this weekend! Hooray!!!

Oh, slowly but surely, the elves at KMart are putting out the "Martha" Christmas decor....As you know, this is when I become almost a stalker at KMart. I go in every day and check to see what is out, what is new, etc, etc. I have been known to check out three or four KMarts in our area in a day....oh, I am so bad...and I am going to War Eagle THIS WEEK!!! SO, I need to be very good and not spend any $$$$

Oh, and this is my week to do a tea with the Lord!!! Wedgwood, that is.... Tea is on Thursday and then I fly out to Arkansas right after that! busy busy week. I will get photos this time!!!!

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cathy


OH MY GOODNESS....I ALMOST FORGOT................

Saturday was a competition for Woody's marching band and we attended with our daughter Amy. They won Grand Champion of the competition "Rumble in the Jungle". Here's a photo of Woody and his mom.

waiting

Good Monday morning friends,
Well...I am waiting to "hear" from anyone regarding SOS...
and
I am waiting to hear from the Tea Expo regarding a speaking proposal I submitted. We were to hear by the end of Sept. as to who was selected. I received a nice email on the 30th stating they were overwhelmed with applications and they would get back to us with their selections by Friday, no later than Monday...well Friday has passed and it is Monday and still no word.
I am waiting to feel better....on Thursday I had a crown replaced and two fillings redone which may seem to you like not a big deal, and it wasen't actually except that I have TMJ and all those pain shots and having my mouth open for so long triggers a mega-attack on the muscles and nerves in my jaw and they have been giving me alot of problems ever since. I am not a good pill taker, but have been shoving pills down at an alarming rate to try to get some comfort. Last night I took the $28.88 pill, a muscle relaxer...which threw me into zombie-land...am finally beginning to focus and it is noon! I have taken oxycodone, and lodine too. The longest relief I have had is 4 hours and I am getting a bit tired of this...Yesterday I took 3 advil and got some relief so I was hoping things were beginning to get better...not so. Pain is a pain in the neck...or head...literally! I do not function well, sorry.
My weekend was lost to this mess, and so far my Monday is as well. I will call my dentist and inquire as to what we should do next???
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cathy

SOS

Good Tuesday Friends,
I had a great idea, brought about by a bit of hardship and inconvenience, which sometimes brings forth good. Born from the experiences of a fire, my idea was: SOS which means: Simplify, Organize, Support! An 8 week course for those whose desire is to live life a different way. The class, in a nutshell, is a tool to help those of us who are hopelessly rambling around wanting to be organized in our personal life, our family life, our home and our dealings with the outside world...be it job, profession, school, career, whatever....those of us who recognize that "things" are holding us down, keeping us back, robbing us of freedom! We have all the good intentions...but just no accountability...hence, the "support" in SOS. Part of the appeal was that each of us in the class shared our frustrations and hopes and we gave support to each other. The goal was to begin to change our habits and acquire new ones in their place. Each of us claimed an area we would de-clutter and re-purpose by the end of the class, then...the last class we had a progressive party and went from house to house to view the finished area! We had a ball and it worked! Everyone achieved satisfaction from actually doing what they said they would do, it was delightful and what fun we had. I have been asked to think about doing this class "on line"....but I hesitate because part of the magic of a weekly on site class is the relationship built between all the attendees...but hey, blog land is full of wonderful friendships between people who have never met, so maybe this might work after all.... Now, Lindsey, you might say: "Heal thyself"....yep, I do believe I may be back sliding and I NEED this class again just for myself....well, what do you think? Should I put it together for a virtual class??? Mom, you do NOT need to take this course, you are the great de-clutter queen and I stand in awe of your refrigerator alone!!! But, for those of you whose fridge is one huge mumble-jumble (and you know what that means and who you are!) maybe SOS is for you.....
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cathy

Orange is "IN"

Good monday evening friends....
yes, orange is "in" and doesen't it look good with blue??? I have discovered a new fondness for orange that I thought I lost decades ago....who knew? This is our front door wreath.

Of course Target has these wonderful door-mats for each season...I do think this fellow is very friendly looking and Fiona is keeping her eye on him too!

The pumpkin in the urn is ceramic and very real looking, says "Welcome Friends" kinda hokey, but I like it...so there! See the cute little crow flying above the pumpkin? I am liking crows too.

The lamp needed to be taller, so we got out a few old books, looks nice, huh? Those sillouettes are of me, my brother and sister...very vintage....

Another crow and more orange!

Yet more orange...our trees are not yet turning but there's lots of color inside!

This is a neat carved pumpkin or the kitchen counter....orange and blue....way cool.

Your first Christmas sighting!!! A new teapot from England called "A Fine Romance"...adorable! New St. Nick too (thank you HomeGoods)

More orange and blue with a great artichoke candle holder....

This is a very old tea cart and more great gourds and small pumpkins...orange again

Here's more crows...I will admit that the one is from the Dollar Tree!!! The other with a votive is from Target...love the print.

More orange and blue, there is a theme going here.

I love real-looking artificials, they are a good investment. If I have real flowers I usually cut whatever I have in the yard. Around Christmas I do use roses from Sams club, but I like the look of the artificials and I use them everywhere...they never die on you and always look good even if you NEVER water them! I have been drying my hydrangeas. They look wonderful, blues and violets...so pretty and they last a long time dried.

Well, I took alot of pictures just to show you a bit of my autumn decor, hope you enjoyed the "tour"

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cathy

The booth !

Good Thursday Friends!
Here's a shot of the little spot before I got it all fluffed. ^

This is another pre-fluff shot from a different angle. (above)

Well, here's how it looks all done, but already I see things I need to change...oh me. At least it is almost all priced and tagged and I can take a break. HOpefully this weekend I will make some sales.....

More photos of the space. It is very small and I have a bunch in there, I do hope it shows off well enough. We will see...

I probably should have taken some photos of other booths. Some of them are much larger and very impressive. I just want to make enough to pay for the rental and make some $ and get rid of this stuff and maybe become rich and famous too. (smiling here)

Saw my sweet Chinese Dr. today, she is always upbeat and so very nice to me. "It's yo body" is her favorite saying and after telling me her opinions on the state of my health and hearing my thoughts on the subject, she always smiles and says: "It's yo body!" How can I argue with that??? Can I loose 30 lbs? That might solve all my woes...but that is not easy to do. The dh needs to loose the same 30 lbs. wonder if we can work on it together??? still, not easy for a couple who enjoy their food!

I went out to my beautician Ms. Beverly Booe! got me a Booe-do (the e is silent!) another perm, which is quite curly right now. cannot touch it for 48 hours...strict orders. Ms. Booe is tougher than Dr. Zhang!

Well, now I can relax a bit. Am attending a tea on Sunday, will take photos as it should be over the top!!!

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cathy

TWO WORDS

Good Wednesday morning friends,
No, I am not limiting my blog today to just two words, but I had a brainstorm on my way home from working on my booth yesterday and thought this might be a good place to share the thought!
I think I would be correct to assume that what Americans of every ilk and political pursuasion really really want is CHANGE!, right? And if we were all really honest we would have to agree that the election of a President really won't bring about the big CHANGE that we, the people, seem to really desire. I sincerely believe we must change Congress---radically in order to begin to bring about the CHANGE that is desired by one and all. How do we do this?????
Here's where my two words come in:

TERM LIMITS

Think about it. We would have "citizen statesmen/women" not career politicians. We would have people who knew they were returning to the general population in a few short years so they better work hard and not screw it up. We would have true policy making done, not empire building. The "citizen soldier" served America well, still is serving....why not the Citizen Statesman/woman??? I, for one, would love to see some fresh faces and new ideas....I want change!!! Not just lip service and more of the same and no matter how hard they try, the executive branch will be thwarted by the legislative branch as it stands now. Let's see if we can convince more people to demand term limits for congress and see what those career legislators have to say to that kind of CHANGE!!! no pay raises, no huge retirement benefits, no special medical benefits.....just serve and good bye! Stop for a moment and think of this, why the huge outpouring of attention (both positive and negative) on the selection of Gov. Palin for VP on the McCain ticket? Could it be that for one reason she is not a Washington insider? She is a citizen-stateswoman!!! "The elite" are afraid of her because she is one of us....now, maybe you are not a conservative-Christian-woman-mother-Republican...but you are a civilian-person-not on the Federal government payroll-American...and so is she! The first thing I thought about was : "A breath of fresh air". No matter what your leanings are philosophically, religiously, or politically, you have to admit Mrs. Palin is no senator....for me that speaks volumns!!!

say it again:

TERM LIMITS

TTFN

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cathy

Progress!

Good Monday friends!
I feel very proud of myself because I spent 5 NON-STOP hours working on my little area at the consignment shop today!!! Here is how it looked after unloading yesterday (above photo) ^ Below v is another shot of the spot full of boxes! That is what greeted me this morning!

The first thing I did was to begin unpacking the boxes after I dusted and cleaned the two cabinets which hold most of the inventory!

Then, I decided to use some of my teacup tissue left from the Mall shop and lined the back of the kitchen hutch with it...turned out cute! You can see it here below v

Miss Eula sure did enjoy having so much company and she was all smiles while I worked my tail off!!!

I went through every single box...one is for sale to tea shop lady, one is lamps and I need to decide what to do with them and one is full of linens to be put out tomorrow I am sure. I moved Miss Eula out of the space as she was just in the way...sorry and I continued to empty boxes and stack stuff. I am getting the flow of it now and feel much better about how the spot will finally look, PLUS...while emptying a box I found a great menu from a tea class I did years ago and think I will use it to promote more tea classes in the shop...well, not the classes, those would be in homes...but I can advertise in the shop! So now my mind is running on more revenue streams.

My spot ends where you see the tall screens on the right of the cabinet. Someone else rents the space under the window. They rent every bit of space in this place...even book cases and the bathroom.

Kim, one of the owners made up my price tags from a 3pg list I gave her yesterday, but after unloading, I have 3 more pages of inventory...I have yet to tag anything...that is for tomorrow!

When I got ready to leave I wanted to make sure nothing "left" the shop before I had it tagged....so I swathed every space with fabric and I had made some cute signs to clothspin on the fabric to let people know the space would open soon. I love Alice in Wonderland, so used graphics from that book's illustrations and such, they turned out sooooo cute! Click on the photo to enlarge!

Miss Eula is now on the payroll ... she will hold this sign to let folks know we are on the way!!!

I call the shop "TEA TIME" I like that ...

Good by Miss Eula, hold the fort down, see you tomorrow.....

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cathy